Shattered Wings
by Rainbowkittyblossomwings
Summary: Demon possession is the norm for kids Fuyuki's age. But an accident happens and Fuyuki winds up getting possessed by the Demon King Kululu, who has a habit of attracting disaster to him. In the next two years Fuyuki must deal with Kululu's jerkiness, assassins, war, shocking truths, lots of vomiting, and his blossoming feelings for Momoka. The last two are mutually exclusive. AU
1. A Tiny Mix-Up

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **Yes. This is an AU. A collab AU with runwithscissorsXXXbattlescars. Because instead of updating what we should be updating we started a new AU. Sorry bout that. Hopefully we'll update Hinata House soon.**

 **This story came from me just randomly sketching out possible story ideas, and my sister loving this one, due to being a huge Fuyuki-Kululu broshipper. I told her I'd write it if she collabed on it with me, since I am not that great at writing Fuyuki/Kululu interacting in a brotp way. I do brotp it, but I'm just not that great at writing it.**

 **So she agreed. And this came to be.**

 **(Also the title took us hours and still doesn't make much sense, but idk. It sounds cool so I suppose it'll have to do. I honestly wanted it to be called something different.)**

 **I hope you all enjoy. Although Fuyuki and Kululu will be the main characters, there will be other characters who appear and are major for the different arcs.**

 **This chapter was my chapter. My sister edited grammar mistakes though.**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Fuyuki's first spoonful of porridge in the morning felt cold against his tongue, despite its hot temperature. He'd like to think that perhaps it had cooled on his metal spoon, but he knew it was his mind that had deemed his breakfast frozen, just as frozen as his gut was with anxiety.

"Is something wrong?" His mother, Aki, picked up his look of uncomfortableness across the table. She saw the large frown across his face and immediately put her spoon down to figure out how to solve her baby boy's problem.

"Nah, it's all right, Mom." Fuyuki tried to give an uneasy smile. He knew if he complained, his mother would try to make something else for him. It wasn't like they were tight on money or anything, but he knew his loss of appetite wasn't because of the quality of food, but more from nervousness for the coming day.

Aki gave him a small frown. "You sure? If you don't like the porridge, I can make you something different."

Fuyuki shook his head, having predicted correctly that his mother would offer to cook something else. "I'm good," he reaffirmed, and took another bite to prove it.

After a few seconds of watching Fuyuki eat, Aki finally went back to scooping her own porridge into her mouth. Fuyuki sighed in relief that his mother wasn't worried about him. She didn't need any more to worry about.

"So... is there anything you want to do today for your birthday?" Aki asked, trying to make conversation. It had been a bit lonely having just the two of them at the table, but Aki, just like the superb mother she was, had been trying to make the best of it so that Fuyuki wouldn't feel like there was any sort of difference.

"Mom, my birthday is tomorrow." Fuyuki gave a nervous laugh. "I shouldn't celebrate a day early."

"But you won't have any time to celebrate tomorrow! It's... well... It's your ceremony." Aki's voice lowered to a hush, an edge of nervousness sparking.

Fuyuki tried to keep smiling. He tried not to let the nervousness get to him. He knew his life would change after the ceremony, or at least he'd have to adapt for his next two years of life to be very different. The age of fourteen was probably the most important age in a person's life. That was the rules of their people, thanks to the ancient contract.

Fuyuki tried to ease his breathing and reassure himself about the following day. _I shouldn't be so worried... It'll all go fine. Everybody's ceremony goes fine. And it's just two years._

Aki picked up on her son's more shallow breathing. "It'll be all right, Fuyuki," she reassured him, getting out of her chair to pat his head.

Fuyuki let himself focus on the feeling of her hand to calm him down. "I know it'll be fine," he told her. "It's just like having a roommate, right? Except that roommate is in your head."

Aki nodded. "Yeah. It's like having a roommate," she agreed. "And since you're such a nice kid, you'll probably even make friends with your demon!"

Fuyuki gave her a smile but tried to keep the bile in his stomach from rising. A _demon_ would be in his mind. Sharing control over his body, moving his hands, his legs, his arms, his mouth. For two years, he wouldn't be himself - or rather, _just_ himself.

It was all thanks to the ancient contract. The thing might have saved both their races, but it still placed into law that at the age of fourteen, humans would let a demon live within them for two years, until the demon finally left at the age of sixteen. This symbiotic relationship gave the demons a chance to live life to the fullest on the mortal plane, to experience humanity and life, to contribute to a changing world, and to gain energy. In return, the demons shared their powers and technology with humanity. Their demonic powers protected them from the monsters outside of towns, and their technology was far superior to anything the humans could come up with.

Still, even though the demons only lived on the human plane for two years and didn't even have their own body, but rather shared with the human they possessed, Fuyuki couldn't help but worry.

He hadn't had the best experience with demons, even though as someone below the age of fourteen, he shouldn't have interacted with any of the possessed individuals. But his mother assured him that his experience had been a rarity, and that all demons weren't like what he had seen. "Some are bad, some are good. Just like humans." She told him to justify the one bad demon he had encountered. Still, he had never met any bad humans, so he couldn't really agree with her ways of thinking.

"It won't all be bad." Aki tried to interrupt Fuyuki's thoughts. She saw that his mind was racing. "I know you're excited about graduating and going to your new school, right?" She smiled at him.

Fuyuki looked up from his bowl. His mother was right. He was excited about the new school. All individuals hosting a demon companion were able to go to secondary school, opposed to the first year school that he went to, which was boring and only taught the bare minimum about his world and history.

 _I want to learn about cooler things than how to do math and maybe how to..._ Fuyuki shuddered. ... _do exercise. I want to learn about the different kinds of monsters roaming outside of town! I want to learn about the biology of demons. I want to learn about ancient ruins! I want to learn about all sorts of occult things._

Despite Fuyuki's slight fear of demons, he still was a very curious individual who had a passion for the unknown, the occult.

"It'll be fine," Aki told him again. Almost like a chant, a mantra. "Like I've been telling you, I did all your paperwork _months_ ago to match you up with a demon who best fits your personality. I... well, and a few of the grand council members, have found a demon that seems pretty nice. I'm sure you'll become good friends. There will be nothing to worry about."

Fuyuki gave a small smile. He hadn't known much about the demon he would be living with for the next two years of his life, so whenever his mother mentioned him, he tried to build this guy up in his mind. He knew the demon was male (he had specified that he preferred a male demon), and that apparently he was easy-going. All he knew about this guy other than that though was his name - Keroro.

Knowing a name was better than nothing. At least he wasn't going into this ceremony ignorant, although he didn't really know much about what actually _happened_ during it.

"I know it will be fine," Fuyuki reassured.

It always went fine. For everybody. There was no reason he should be any different. It was a safe process that had been used for ten thousand years.

There was no reason that something bad would happen.

But... Fuyuki still couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy.

* * *

After breakfast, Fuyuki went up to his room to spend some of the early morning putting up a blog entry about some of his latest theories on how to improve the natural energy in the world, or how aliens probably taught the demons how to harness solar energy or wind-propelled turbines. It was all very crack-pot theories and he only had a few blog followers who believed in aliens, but he still loved theorizing.

 _Maybe... during my possession, when I'm learning more about demons and demon culture, I can post stuff about them to my blog,_ Fuyuki dreamed, even though he knew there were rules censoring the internet so that the children wouldn't interact with demons accidentally. Fuyuki assumed that society had put those rules into affect so that demons wouldn't get greedy and ask for younger children to be their hosts so that they could stay on the mortal plane even _longer_.

Still, he didn't particularly like all these rules, because it kept him in the dark about a lot of the things he would go through during his hosting period. Not even his own mother had told him much of what it would be like, besides "It'll be fine."

And... he knew their was a chance it _wouldn't_ be fine. He knew some people changed after having a demon reside in their soul. After all, they had been away from normal people for so long that of _course_ they would be different. That was a given.

But Fuyuki couldn't help but feel they were even more different than they should be. Some were distant, refusing to speak to even their own families. And sometimes the adults even ignored them, too.

Although, to be fair, a lot of the adults in town ignored _everybody_.

Fuyuki's eyes drifted to his wallpaper on his computer as he minimized his blog window. It was a picture of him when he was much younger, along with his Mom, Dad, and sister.

 _Natsumi..._ Yes... Natsumi was proof that something might actually go wrong, despite what his Mother was telling him.

Natsumi was two years older than him. She had already gone through the ritual. She should have been at the school he would be sent to after he took Keroro into his body.

But he suspected she wasn't.

 _Aki was crying at the table, in the middle of the night, a small glass of alcohol in her hand. Her crying had started after a surprising visit from the town governor, which was very rare. Fuyuki didn't know what they had talked about, but he had heard the words "your daughter."_

 _Afterward Aki tried to look strong when Fuyuki asked what the governor wanted and if Natsumi was okay. He knew that Natsumi would be done with hosting her demon in just a few months, and soon she would get to come home._

" _Natsumi's fine." Aki gave her son a smile, but locked herself in her room later. Fuyuki happened upon his mother later in the middle of the night uttering the words that Fuyuki would never forget._

" _Natsumi is gone... Natsumi is gone..." she cried. Fuyuki took a step back and ran to his room, but whenever he asked about Natsumi the following day, his mother would change the subject._

 _As if Natsumi never existed to begin with._

Fuyuki knew his mother was probably just trying to cope with the loss of her daughter, but still... He had wanted her to clarify what happened, to tell him if there was something dangerous that he should look out for.

He only had theories about what had happened to Natsumi, some being more likely than others, but he knew none of them would ever be confirmed or denied.

Natsumi was a subject that could never be talked about again.

Because Natsumi was gone from that household. Forever.

* * *

Fuyuki tried not to get himself lost in fear and nostalgia. He tried not to miss the people gone in his life. He tried to think about something else.

His computer beeped, signaling a new notification. Probably one of his friends trying to webcam him one last time before he had to go through the ceremony.

He opened his webcam and clicked "accept."

"Hey, Fuyuki!" His much younger friend, also a fan of the occult, Tomosu, waved to him. Fuyuki could see Tomosu was on a laptop, since he saw the buildings behind the boy, large and made of stone with intricate, victorian-like designs. Most of the houses were at least two stories.

Fuyuki had never seen his friend Tomosu in person, because it was near impossible to travel from town to town or to settle in between towns. The only way people stayed connected was the internet and webcamming.

"Hi!" Fuyuki waved back.

"How are you doing? Excited for your ceremony? I can't wait until mine! Are you doing any cool preparations for it?" Tomosu asked like the giddy child he was.

"Weeellll... I'm not really doing any cool preparations for it, and I'm not supposed to really talk to you about my preparations..." Fuyuki reminded Tomosu.

Tomosu groaned a bit, not getting the scoop.

"Well, then, what are you planning to do with your last day alone for a while? Early birthday celebration?" Tomosu asked.

"I was thinking of meeting up with a friend," Fuyuki admitted. "They invited me to have tea with them."

"Well then, don't let me keep you too long. Go enjoy yourself!" Tomosu signed off, leaving Fuyuki to go do his own thing.

* * *

Fuyuki walked along the stone street, envying some of the bikes that passed him by for only a second. The only means of transportation in the world that he knew of were bikes. Sometimes he was envious of the people who chose to use them and sometimes he wasn't. After all, they were easier than walking, but they were usually used by more outdoorsy people than he was, and all he liked doing was staying in his room playing on his computer and reading novels about far-away places that he wouldn't ever visit. He doubted anyone had actually visited those places and survived, anyway.

He passed a few street lights, not yet lit up, on his side of the street. The street lights were lit in the night and they signaled curfew. Fuyuki knew that although their bright blue light was pretty, it also slightly creeped him out, making him feel like the streets were grim and deserted.

"Fuyuki!" a cheerful and familiar voice called to him, and as he turned his head, he saw Momoka waiting for him at a sitting at a white table surrounded by flowers. She must have seen that he was looking confused as to where they were meeting that day.

"Hello, Momoka!" He approached her. Momoka gave him a broad smile. It always looked like she was so cheerful around him.

"Paul, pour Fuyuki some tea," she ordered her butler. Fuyuki absentmindedly wondered if the tea store she sat outside of had existed the previous day. She did have the tendency to make... large and amazing things in the span of days with her vast fortune.

Out of everyone he knew, Momoka was probably the only one who had been outside of town. Heck, out of everyone in the world, it was likely she was the one who traveled the most. She had traveled the world. The Nishizawas, the most famous people on the planet, not to mention the richest, were the only ones who possessed something that Momoka called a "jet:" a flying transportation vehicle. Too expensive for anyone else to produce, but for the Nishizawas, as cheap as buying a box of cookies.

"I'm so glad to see you!" Momoka gave a giddy giggle and pressed her hands against Fuyuki's. Fuyuki didn't know why. "I'm so happy to get the chance to celebrate your birthday so early with you!" She looked over at Paul. "Paul. Get the flowers and cake," she hissed, quickly switching her tone.

 _Hahaha. Momoka is so funny,_ he internally laughed. His internal awkward nervous laughing grew louder when Paul brought a cake that was around Fuyuki's height.

"Momoka... Uhhhhh..." He bit his lip awkwardly. "Thanks?" She always went so over-board with gifts. _She's the best friend in the world!_

"I payed people to ice the cake into the shape of ruins all over the world that I've seen from my jet. I thought you'd like that," she said with a smile. "W-would... Would you like me to cut the cake?" Momoka twiddled her fingers for a second. "I mean... I could serve you some cake directly if you don't like silverware... I could use fingers... Napkins... Maybe even _lips_ if you so require it..." She mumbled. Fuyuki assumed he had just imagined the little bit of drool coming from her mouth. Momoka was a strange one.

"Nah, I'm good. Thanks so much for this, Momoka!" he told her. "I mean, I thought this day would mostly be crummy preparations for that ceremony, but I'm glad I get to have some fun beforehand."

Momoka looked at him a little bit concerned. "You're not worried about it, Fuyuki, are you?"

"Of course not! I mean, I know it'll go fine... It's just like two years out of my life. It's no big deal... I mean, you went through it and got through it fine, right?" Fuyuki asked, looking to Momoka for reassurance.

Momoka took a sip of her tea. Being a Nishizawa, she had the opportunity to go through the ritual early, at 12 instead of 14. She had just recently finished it up and started talking to Fuyuki again. "Fuyuki. You are strong. You will get through this. I know you will," she smiled, trying to give him the best reassurance as she could. "After all, you helped me get through mine."

"I wasn't even there, Momoka!" Fuyuki reminded.

"But you were there in spirit. And I felt that." She smiled, nostalgic. "And I will not leave you alone when you're hosting the demon. Paul's already finalized the papers transferring me to the school you'll be going to, so I'll be there if you need me." Momoka gave his hand another squeeze.

Fuyuki squeezed back. Her words really did mean a lot to him. "But you won't even have a demon in your body. How will you be able to go to the school? Isn't that against the rules?"

"I'm a Nishizawa. I can do what I want." Momoka looked proud, her hair spiking as she fist-pumped into the sky triumphantly.

Fuyuki smiled. Her support really did mean the world to him. _Momoka's the greatest friend I've ever had... No, she's the greatest friend in the world!_ He thought to himself. Absentmindedly, he looked at her, just in admiration about how lucky he was that she was also interested in the occult and wanted to hang out with him a lot.

Momoka's face tinted pink, though Fuyuki wasn't exactly sure why. Her fingers pulled his fingers closer and for some reason he felt like there was faint violin music in the background. Was it an orchestra that Momoka had hired just for some afternoon tea event?

"Fuyuki..." she smiled, whispering his name. For some reason he felt her getting closer.

 _Nah, it's probably my imagination,_ he decided. _Just like how it must be my imagination that her lips are... puckering? Weird?_

"Hey, Fuyuki! Hey, Ms. Nishizawa!" The mood and violin music promptly ended as Fuyuki and Momoka both got a surprise slap on their backs. Fuyuki turned around to see that the person who interrupted their conversation was Saburo, another person he spoke to sometimes in town.

"Goddamnit," Momoka hissed, then said under her breath, "Paul. You know what to do."

Fuyuki didn't understand why she looked so mad.

"Actually... Mistress Momoka... I can not murder Saburo... Or seriously injure him," Paul responded under his breath, as if Saburo and Fuyuki were not there.

"I know, I know, because it would be wrong." Momoka rolled her eyes, annoyed.

"Well, no... I would hurt someone if you so ordered it, Mistress. I was really going to say I can't hurt Saburo because he is the hero of the world. It would be terrible if we were to lose him," Paul reminded her.

"I... I don't know why you would want to hurt me, but perhaps maybe, I shouldn't bring it up," Saburo laughed nervously. He had an educated guess of why Momoka was mad, and he realized it was best not to pry.

Fuyuki had no idea why Momoka would want to hurt Saburo. He knew Saburo was the supposed hero of the world, but he only knew that the title authorized Saburo special treatment, and that Saburo had been boasting about being the hero of the world for years. Fuyuki didn't know of anything heroic that Saburo had done yet.

"So what are you two up to?" Saburo asked playfully, looking between them. "Celebrating your birthday early, Fuyuki?"

"Yeah, since I have to go through the ceremony tomorrow," Fuyuki explained. Saburo shot him a pitying look.

"Me too. Don't worry, I'm sure it'll go fine," Saburo reassured him. "And... maybe after it happens, we can swap stories and offer support? Since we'll both be going through similar things..."

"The day of your ceremony was finalized, Saburo?" Momoka looked surprised. As a Nishizawa, she was supposed to get the latest news, but _this_ was news to her. "I'm... I'm sorry."

"Wait, why is your ceremony tomorrow? I thought your birthday was before mine," Fuyuki said. He knew Saburo hadn't gone through the ceremony yet to become the host body of a demon. Instead, he had heard rumors that Saburo was chosen at birth to be trained to accept the Demon King into his body. Saburo got a little extra time before the ceremony, to train for a more important ritual, so he knew that Saburo had until he was 17 instead of 14, like he did. He also knew that Saburo had been tutored to prepare for the experience, one-on-one by only the best teachers.

He envied Saburo's education, but not his job. And he certainly didn't envy Saburo's isolation. He suspected Saburo liked chatting up with him so much because Fuyuki was pretty non-judgmental toward people in positions of power, like Momoka. He didn't try to take anything for himself, or judge based on job or appearance. He was pretty nice to just about everybody.

"It's because the demon King takes a host exactly every thousand years, and tomorrow will be the thousand-mark date," Saburo explained. "That's why my ceremony is tomorrow."

"Sorry about that," Momoka apologized.

"No problem." Saburo waved his hand. "I mean... I know it was your family that made the contract with the Demon King ten thousand years ago, but it did great things for humanity. So who am I to judge? And it isn't your fault."

Momoka looked a little relieved that he wasn't angry at his fate.

"Are you scared?" Fuyuki finally asked after thinking it over. It was hard to deny to himself, but he was scared. And he was getting a nice demon. Saburo, he assumed, would be much more frightened. After all, this was the most powerful demon in the universe that Saburo would take in. And it was very unlikely a friendship would result from this.

"Me? Scared? Heck no! I've been trained my whole life for this. This... This is my whole purpose. And I'm going to nail it. I have utmost confidence in my abilities," he said.

Fuyuki smiled at him. Saburo's confidence was admirable. He almost wished he had at least a little of it.

"But hey... Don't be worrying about me! You have your own problems to worry about. I'm sure you'll do fine, though!" Saburo ruffled Fuyuki's hair. "I heard from your Mom you got a nice demon, so everything will be fine."

Fuyuki smiled. Saburo was like a nice older brother.

"Anyway, every time the Demon King is resurrected, he brings a new age of technology to us. So my job is pretty important. It's to keep him in check to make sure he doesn't try to find loopholes in the contract to make demons the dominant race. I really am, or I will be, the hero of the world." Saburo gave a wide grin.

Fuyuki frowned. He liked it a little less when Saburo was boasting.

Still, he was happy, that at least compared to Saburo, his ceremony would be easy. He did not envy what Saburo would have to go through.

Momoka, Saburo and Fuyuki continued to chat for a little longer until the skies started darkening and the loudspeakers blasted all throughout the town that it was curfew. He bid Momoka and Saburo farewell and left to go home.

* * *

Fuyuki walked home, careful not to kick at some pebbles in the street, not wanting to tear it apart accidentally.

"Beware all! Please! Young ones! Listen to me!" A man with a name tag on that read Bill - Fuyuki recognized him as a cashier at a grocery store he went to - stood on a podium with a megaphone. Fuyuki didn't stop to listen to him, knowing he had to hurry home, but he did slow down. He hated it when people did this.

"We... We aren't friends with those monsters... Those demons... They aren't our friends," Bill continued. "They use us just for simple cattle! My Angelica... She's lost because of those monsters. Fight against them don't just accept things blindly! Together we can - " Bill yelled as he was cut off as a man in a dark uniform put his hand on his shoulder.

"You'll have to come with me, sir," the man spoke.

"No... You can't make me! You can't do this to me!" Bill shook his head, looking fearful.

"But we can. Please... We don't want you making a fuss."

Bill continued to shout until the uniformed one looked at him for a second, and then Bill slumped over, as if he was asleep.

"Move along, people," said the uniformed man. "This man is clearly sick and will be taken to a doctor immediately." He hauled Bill away.

Fuyuki looked confused and fearful that such a thing should have happened today, of all times. But he did as the officer ordered, and moved along.

* * *

"Did you spend some time with some of your friends?" Aki asked when Fuyuki had returned home. Fuyuki nodded.

"It was fun," he said simply. "Momoka made this really nice cake with some ruins on it."

Aki smiled, though she did look a bit confused, but still happy Fuyuki was having a good early birthday.

"Mom... Uhhh..." He scratched his head. "While I was coming home, I saw this guy named Bill talking about how people are just cattle for the demons. Is... Is that true? Then a man in a uniform took him away. What happened to Bill?"

Aki was silent for a moment. "There are some good demons and some bad demons, just like people. You know that, Fuyuki," she said, like always. "And I'm... I'm sure he's fine. He was just taken away for disrupting the peace, since that's against the law."

Fuyuki tried not to let his gut clench up. Disrupting the peace? What did that mean?

He just felt this grim, cold, and fearful feeling. Like something wasn't right.

"Anyway, you want me to read you a book before bed? It _is_ a special night, after all. Do you want some ice cream?" Aki asked, trying to make the night special for Fuyuki.

"No... I think I'll just sleep... I'll probably need it for tomorrow," Fuyuki decided.

Aki nodded. "Good night, then. I love you," she told her son before kissing him on the cheek.

Despite her best wishes, it was not a good night. And Fuyuki was still wracked with nervousness for the following day.

* * *

He eventually did find sleep, and with sleep, he eventually did wake up.

Aki dressed him in a formal black suit for the occasion. She brushed his hair one last time before his possession, telling him stories of when he was younger, to make him feel as if this was truly a coming-of-age event.

"Ready, Fuyuki?" she asked. Fuyuki nodded as she lead him out of the house and to the temple at the outskirts of the city they resided in.

Aki frowned when she opened the temple doors. "I thought there was usually more people here."

Before them stood a young man dressed in robes, looking apologetic.

"There... Well, yes... But they all had to attend to the temple on the other side of the city. Has no one told you that today is the day of the Demon King's return? They have to make sure Saburo takes him in successfully and doesn't get hurt in the process," the young man, who must have been the head of the temple, admitted.

"You can get hurt during this ritual?" Fuyuki quickly became worried again.

"Not usually, but the Demon King is a special case. We just want to make sure the boy is safe and nothing goes wrong for Saburo," the head of the temple explained.

"The poor boy," Aki frowned. "Still, I'm a bit irritated that Fuyuki will have to get less priests because of that. I thought I had done everything I could to ensure Fuyuki's safety. They promised they'd watch over him." She looked livid with anger.

"Well... the Demon King's revival has more priority over whatever promises the other priests gave you in return for whatever favor you gave them." The head of the temple looked a bit nervous. "Still, I promise that your son will be all right. He's hosting the demon named Keroro, correct?"

"Yes. I made sure of it." Aki talked to the Temple Head like Fuyuki wasn't there. "I'm not losing another one. Fuyuki's all I have left. So I'll do anything in my power to ensure his safety."

"Mom..." Fuyuki cleared his throat, deciding it was time for him to push his nervousness away. He needed to deal with this now. "I'll be fine. I'm sure of it."

Aki looked at her son, still worried.

"Miss Hinata?" said the head of the temple. "You have to be out of the temple for the ceremony. You are not allowed to see him go through it."

"Fine... Just... I love you, Fuyuki. I love you so much. Please... Please be all right." She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead.

 _She was telling me everything would be okay all the time... Was she just trying not to show me how worried she was?_ Fuyuki wondered to himself, hoping that his mother's kisses would keep him safe.

He watched her close the doors of the temple behind her and leave him alone in the stone temple with the Temple Head, surrounded by candles laid out in a circular pattern all around him.

Sunlight streamed through the stained-glass windows, designs drawn on them that Fuyuki couldn't quite make out. Instead, anxiety and a keen focus on the task at hand were in his mind.

"Step forward, Fuyuki Hinata," the temple head ordered, holding out a book and a few items. Fuyuki stepped into a circle drawn with chalk.

"Today, you will become the host to a demon, as the tradition of ten thousand years' demands. He will reside in your body for two years, and then you will be free of him," the Temple Head told him. "Read this." He handed Fuyuki a piece of text.

"I, a human, give my body as a vessel for a demon, to honor the contract of ten thousand years. I do this so that, not only I will be stronger, but the demon who resides in me will be stronger, too, and able to lurk in our world. I do this to honor our bond of friendship, and our bond of victory over winning the war ten thousand years ago. Together we are the strongest. Alone, we are nothing," Fuyuki finished.

"I will now call Keroro, the demon who will reside in your soul." The Temple Head spoke aloud some words that Fuyuki assumed was in a demonic language. He then sprinkled some magic grain-like material over Fuyuki. "Be still. Tell him you're ready."

"I am ready," Fuyuki spoke. He no longer could be nervous. He didn't have time for it.

"Then come... Demon! Inhabit this human's body!" the Temple Head shouted.

The air grew cold.

"Is... Is it happening?" Fuyuki couldn't move his body, as if someone else was putting their hands on him and taking control.

The stain glass window on the ceiling swung open and a powerful gust of wind rushed through the temple. The Temple Head put his book over his head to shield himself from the wind.

The candles all blew out and the white chalk on the ground turned red.

"Ku, ku, ku, ku..." Laughter echoed throughout the wind.

"Oh... Oh nooo... This...This doesn't feel right..." the Temple Head muttered. Fuyuki's blood ran cold at hearing that laughter.

"So... This is my vessel. The vessel I've been waiting a thousand years for. I suppose it'll do. Ku, ku, ku." Fuyuki's mind blacked out as the demon entered his body.

The Temple Head hid under a table, frightened, not knowing what to do. There was this aura of power around Fuyuki's body.

"FUYUKI!" Aki ran inside the temple.

The Temple Head shivered under a table. "You're not supposed t-to be... be in here, ma'am..."

"I heard a rumor by somebody passing by that Saburo received Keroro as his demon in the other temple and that something messed up. Stop Fuyuki's ceremony immediately." She tried to keep her tone firm. "There's been a mistake." She ignored the cloud of lightning over the temple, desperate that what she thought had happened hadn't finalized yet.

"I-I-I..." the Temple Head stuttered.

Fuyuki's body straightened up, and he flexed his hand, responding to his name.

Aki sighed in relief. Fuyuki could still move. "Fuyuki, come over here. I don't care about the rules. This ceremony will not finish. I won't let... whatever demon you might get to take you."

Fuyuki looked up, but the kind eyes he had were now gone. Instead, a sinister smile was plastered across his face.

"Fuyuki, huh? So that's his name. I suppose you didn't expect, or want, the Demon King himself to take this little boy's body. Ku, ku, ku." Fuyuki knew his mouth was moving, but he was not the one talking. "Too late now, sucker!"

 _Demon King... Wait..._ Fuyuki mentally screamed as he realized the horrible mistake that had happened. _AHHHHHH!_

* * *

 **Tomosu is never going to return by the way. I just needed Fuyuki to talk to a friend younger than him.**

 **Please review! It would mean a lot to me and my sister.**


	2. Call Me Your Highness

**Sorry the chapter came late; I was busy singing mock barbershop, getting sand up my nose, watching Steven Universe, and touring embalming labs with RKBW.**

 **Hinata House chapter should come soon but I'm not making any promises bc I have to worry about getting driver's license/also do piano lessons.**

 **Regardless I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

 **-Scissors**

* * *

 _The_ _ _Demon_ King, huh…._

Fuyuki could not rest. He was required to keep laying on a bed in the back of the temple while the authorities within the temple carried on a vaguely audible conversation. As if he could rest, anyway, with so many priests stationed around the room. They weren't worried about him, of course—they were worried far more about the Demon King who was now taking residence within his body. So while Fuyuki remained trapped in his thoughts, the Demon King took control of him, sending all the priests his nastiest of grins.

"It seems every millennium that I arrive," the Demon King said, using Fuyuki's vocal cords, "humans just become more and more hostile towards me. Why is that?" Using Fuyuki's hand, he gently took hold of the chin of one of the priests, looking her directly in the eyes. The priest shook at the contact. On any regular day, the sight of a experienced, adult priest trembling at the hand of a newly fourteen-year-old boy would have been laughable. But today, they all trembled together.

"I-I-I don't know, your highness," the priest responded, her deer-in-headlights state preventing her from giving a more eloquent answer. "P-p-please, if there is anything we can do to make your stay on Earth more—"

"Oh, how kind of you to ask!" Using Fuyuki's facial muscles, the Demon King smiled. Well, it was more of a twisted, horrid grin, which looked quite unreal on a face like Fuyuki's. "But I really don't need anything. Well, that is, unless you can produce a thermo-hyponuclear cotransit fluorospectrophotometer right this moment."

The priests exchanged confused glances at one another. One whispered, "Whass he wannus to get?" Finally one of the priests called out, "We're on it, your highness."

"Your majesty," the Demon King corrected him.

After grumbling quite a bit, the priests nodded and exited the room.

 _Is it okay for them to just exit the room?_ Fuyuki wondered. _To get a… whatever-it-is that probably doesn't even exist? Geez, now I'm all alone with the Demon King…. What do I do?_

Fuyuki felt the anxiety run through him like a cold chill, even though he still could not control his body at the moment.

 _I have to take over my body,_ Fuyuki told himself. _I have to… Have to…_

He felt himself walking toward the door and entering the main hall of the temple. As his eyes took in the familiar area, they settled on the action taking place in the middle of the room. Startlingly, he spotted his mother, who was being handled by the authorities surrounding her.

"No! You don't understand!" Aki was shouting. "I have to see my son! I have to see—" She paused a moment, then broke free from the man's grip. "Fuyuki!" She ran to him and stroked his face in her hand. "Oh, my baby boy, what did they do to you?" She hugged him. "I'm so sorry that I've let this happen."

 _I need to talk to her,_ Fuyuki knew. He didn't know how to do it, though. He strained to gain control over his body.

"I'm fine, Mom." The words tumbled out of his mouth. The authorities in the room looked shocked to hear this from Fuyuki. "I-I was a bit shaken up, I have to admit, but my head's been starting to clear up."

"Oh…." Aki hugged him again, giving him a very tight squeeze.

 _Yes! I finally did it!_ Fuyuki cheered. _No… wait… That's not what I wanted to say at all._

"And now that everything's a bit clearer," Fuyuki went on, "I've come to realize how terrible a mother you are."

Aki froze. All the authorities in the room froze. She stopped hugging her son and looked him straight in the eye. A tear ran down her cheek. "Do… Do you really mean that?"

 _No! Mom! Don't listen to me!_ Fuyuki pleaded. _It's not me. It's the Demon King!_

"Yes, I really do," came the words from Fuyuki's mouth.

"Then… forgive me, Fuyuki." She bit her lip and raised her hand. Then, with great power, she slapped it across Fuyuki's cheek. It was harder than anyone had ever hit him before and stung like a thousand nettles.

Immediately, the authorities rushed up to restrain her. She didn't even fight back. Instead she yelled at the Demon King, "You are not welcome here! You are not welcome in my son, do you understand?! I will not stand for a second while you mock us all and ruin my son's life!" She fought back a choking sound. "He's all I have left. I'll never let you take that away!"

"Miss, please control yourself," someone begged her. She continued to thrash about, until she was handcuffed, and at last she seemed to quiet down.

 _Don't take Mom away!_ Fuyuki tried to say. As usual, nothing came out. He could only watch in misery and helplessness as his mother was carried away by the authorities. The ones left in the room, the Demon King turned to with a grin.

"Kuuu, ku, ku, ku, ku, ku. Well, I'm glad we've settled that," he spoke. "Let everyone know of this little incident. I can't have any of this boy's family looming over me. Who else does he have?"

"Erm… that was it, your highness," said one of the authorities.

"Your majesty," he corrected.

"Sorry. Majesty. Anyway, his sister disappeared a few months ago, presumably dead, and his father is deceased as well."

"Perfect," he beamed. He addressed the authorities behind him next, who were guards. "Additionally, I will have no one monitoring me. That goes for guards, security, cameras…. Whatever tricks you try to pull, I'll know." He tapped the space on his head just above his ears. "And we don't want that, do we?"

The guards didn't seem to quite understand, but they nodded anyway. "We'll send the message right away. To give the Demon King his personal space."

"One more thing…." He stopped them before they headed off. "Get me some ice for this kid's cheek. This hurts like hell."

* * *

The news spread quickly, and "personal space" resulted in _everyone_ avoiding Fuyuki on the street.

Fuyuki had never been so nervous. No one ever told him about this. Come to think of it, no one had ever told him _anything_. He had no idea how to take back control of his body. And if he'd had gotten any other regular demon, nobody would think twice of it. But because it was the _Demon King himself_ that was now taking residence in his body, everyone refused to make eye contact with him.

As if his mom getting arrested wasn't enough.

 _Will this ever end?_ Fuyuki wondered. _It's not even noon and I already feel like I've lived another ten years of my life!_

All of a sudden, the Demon King stopped in the middle of the walkway. "Fuyuki, was your name?"

Fuyuki didn't know how to respond to him, so he didn't.

"I'm going to need you to lead me to your house. Your legs are tired."

 _They are?_ he thought. Before he knew it, a dizziness ran through his head and through his eyes. After it passed, Fuyuki found he could clench his hands and flex his legs again.

"I—I'm me again!" he exclaimed with a laugh. "Hoo boy, my legs _are_ kinda tired."

" _Yes, I did a lot of walking around for you, ku ku ku_ ," the Demon King told him through his head.

"I—What? You can talk to me?" Fuyuki was shocked.

" _Indeed I can. Now make the walk quick!_ " he commanded. " _I'm growing bored_."

"O-Okay." Fuyuki made sure to heed this order, not knowing what stunt the Demon King would pull. He had to be very cautious with him, he knew, because the Demon King was very powerful. He would not let him mess any more with his life than he had already.

The second Fuyuki reached his house, he shut the door quickly behind him and leaned against it in relief. No more people avoiding eye contact with him, only to glance and whisper behind his back. He was free. The events of the day were starting to catch up with him—the possession, his mother's arrest. Fuyuki began to cry. He didn't know if he could take any more of it.

" _Ohh. There, there, don't be sad_ ," he heard the Demon King say. " _I'm not_ that _bad of a guy_."

This just made Fuyuki sob harder.

" _Noo, noo. I'm a real good demon, honest._ "

He sniffled. "Then why—then why—then why do you act so mean to everybody!"

" _Well, a guy like me just_ has _to have a bit of fun after being caged up in the demon dimension for one thousand years, ku ku ku_ ," the Demon King told him. " _And there's really no reason to resent me for that. Unless…._ " He paused. " _Do you hate demons, Fuyuki?_ "

"What?"

" _Do you hate demons?_ "

"Well… no! They can't be all bad," Fuyuki told him. "They helped us win the war, you know."

" _Hng, I wasn't aware_ ," the Demon King told him wryly.

"Really? But you're the Demon King!"

" _Ah…! Yes, yes, you're right. Ku ku ku! I seem to have forgotten. Time really flies when you're immortal, it would seem. Don't know where my mind has gone these days. Probably into your body!_ "

"You better do something about that memory of yours," Fuyuki warned him. He felt a smile creep onto his face. Maybe the Demon King wasn't actually that bad of a guy. He seemed pretty okay, now that the two of them were alone and chatting. Maybe tomorrow he could go get his mom out of jail and apologize to Saburo for the mix-up and then this whole thing could just blow over.

"Mr. Demon King, what do you think these two years are going to be like?" he asked him.

" _Well, I certainly didn't expect such a scrawny body to move about in, that's for sure_ ," said the Demon King. He added with a sigh, " _I suppose everything has its advantages_."

Fuyuki scratched the back of his head. "Sorry for being so weak." He guessed the guy must have not been told by anyone that his host was supposed to have been a different kid.

" _No… this will do just fine, I think. Not too different from usual…._ "

"From usual?" Fuyuki repeated. He dismissed it. "What do you look like? Or… do demons not look like anything?"

The Demon let out another of his chuckles. " _You would like to know more about me, would you, Fuyuki?_ " Fuyuki nodded. " _Here's what you'll have to do—look deep into your mind. Concentrate hard on your thoughts. Yes… Yes… that's good_."

Fuyuki could feel himself sinking deep into his mind. For a moment, blackness enveloped him, and then was burned away to reveal an odd sort of setting with shifting colors where (who he _presumed_ to be) the Demon King stood before him.

"Perfect," said the man. As his voice matched the one that had been speaking to him earlier, Fuyuki decided that this _was_ the Demon King.

Although it was just in his mind, he could make the form of the man out clearly: Messy purple hair swept up and to the left side of his head, a pair of round glasses resting on his nose, and clothing that resembled a very, _very_ old fashion. He would have never guessed that the Demon King wore glasses. But what stuck out most of all to Fuyuki were the curled horns that rested close to the Demon King's head, right about where his ears ought to have been.

"Um, hi, Mr. Demon King." Fuyuki wasn't sure what else to say.

"Hello as well." The Demon King gestured to himself. "If you wish, you, as my host, are granted the pleasure of referring to me by name, Kululu."

Fuyuki was appalled. "You have a name?"

"Well, yes, of course I have a name," Kululu told him. "All demons have names. What else would my family have called me?"

"I—I'm not sure," he admitted bashfully. Now he felt like a fool for not knowing before that the Demon King had a name. Of course he would! It only made sense. He pointed to Kululu's head. "Um…. Can I ask what your horns are for?"

Kululu touched the side of his head. "All in due time, naturally. You'll find out… let's say… in two years, when we return to this dimension."

"Okay," he said. "What happens then?"

But before he could hear a response, the area shifted back in to blackness and Fuyuki found himself back in the real world, in his body.

* * *

It wasn't before long when the authorities came knocking at Fuyuki's door.

"Excuse us, could we speak to Fuyuki Hinata for a moment?" they requested.

Fuyuki opened the door and saw the relief that overtook their faces as he smiled at them in greeting. "Um… yeah… I'm me right now," he assured them.

"Are you sure? Because…" One of the officers cleared her throat. "Anyway, Fuyuki Hinata, as the apparent _new_ host of the Demon King, you have the choice of bypassing your admittance into secondary school."

"Bypassing my admittance? You mean… I don't have to go to secondary school?" Fuyuki asked.

"That is correct."

"But…." He frowned. "I can't stop learning!"

"Yes, but the Demon King is in your body…" one of the officers said quietly.

Fuyuki dismissed this with a wave of his hand. "I won't let that change anything. I know that this is a big thing that happened and all—"

"Mr. Hinata, I'm afraid you don't understand the _gravity_ of this situation—"

"—but I just want everybody to treat me normally. You know? I don't want to live with any of the isolation that Saburo had, I just want us to move on from this. Can we do that?" He smiled at them hopefully.

The authorities turned to each other and began discussing in hushed whispers.

"Should we let him?"

"Of course we should let him! …Poor boy's only got two years."

"But how can we train him? If we put him in that school…. They might say too much."

"We'll just have to have the Nishizawa girl drop hints."

"Ohh, gosh, this is _soo_ bad, you guys."

"It's all we can do. None of us were trained for this, people! We've got to suck it up and stay strong…. For this boy _and_ for the world."

"Um—" Fuyuki broke in.

Startled, the authorities swiveled around and gave him their utmost attention.

"So… is everything okay over there?" he asked.

"Yes! Everything is absolutely in tip-top shape, Mr. Hinata! Or… Or your highness! Whoever you are."

"Fuyuki," said Fuyuki. He could see that the officer who had spoken was trembling. Was Kululu really all that bad? Or were they just worried about the host mix-up?

Fuyuki decided to ask the one expert he knew on this topic: Saburo.

* * *

After breaking away from the authorities and wandering around for a bit, Fuyuki found Saburo alone on a park bench, his head in his hands.

"Hey… Saburo." He jogged up to him. "Everything all right? Um… that is, if you _are_ Saburo. 'Cause I know you got your own host today. Can I speak to Saburo? Just Sa—"

"I'm right here, Fuyuki," said Saburo glumly at his shoes.

"Oh. That's…"

"You're _dead_ , Fuyuki."

"…Excuse me?"

"The demon you got?" Saburo brought his head up, seemingly with a vast amount of effort, and looked him in the eyes. "I went through training for my _whole life_ for him. You've had nothing. Absolutely nothing. And now all that training…." Saburo swallowed and blinked his eyes. When he spoke, his voice came out strained, and sounding like he was choking back his anger. "It's for _nothing_."

"I—I'm so sorry…" Fuyuki told him. "I didn't know that… that it was that important…."

" _Important_?" he repeated. He threw his hands up. "I was supposed to be the hero of the world, Fuyuki! Now I just have a regular demon and my parents think I'm an embarrassment. They refuse to look at me! 'Oh, no Demon King after all? Hm, what a shame you've brought upon us.' "

Fuyuki was speechless. He had never seen Saburo so emotional. Usually he was so aloof.

A little girl walking by looked up at her mother and asked, "Mommmmy wassa demon king?"

"Shh, not now sweetie," the mother said harshly, tugging her daughter away.

Fuyuki looked nervously off to the side. "We shouldn't be talking here."

Saburo leaned back into the bench. "I don't care. I—I just don't care anymore."

"Well… what do I do now?" he asked him. "At least you can tell me how to deal with the Demon King, right?"

"No, Fuyuki, I'm… not supposed to tell you anything." Saburo ran a hand through his bangs. Then he sat up with a large sigh and started talking quickly. "Taking control will be the most important thing. You'll need to do it as often as you can, because Kululu's got some dirty tricks up his sleeve and he'll play around if you let him."

Fuyuki, though surprised that Saburo knew the Demon King's name, was more than thankful that he had decided to talk finally. "How do I take control?" he asked.

" _Immense_ willpower. Push to the front of your mind with everything you've got. Blacking out and letting him take control is so much easier, but _you_ need to be the one in control, you hear me?"

"Y-yeah," he said.

"And also. Whatever you do," Saburo warned, "do _not_ think any deep thoughts. Do not let him trick you into doing so."

"Wh-what?" Fuyuki gasped. "He—He can't read my thoughts, can he?"

Saburo nodded. "With regular demons, you can control what you say to them if you're not the one in control. But if you're in deep thought, your privacy will be a thing of the past, because Kululu will be able to see straight into your mind if you're not paying attention."

The more he spoke, the wider Fuyuki's eyes became. That Kululu! Fuyuki had pretty much been doing deep thinking _all_ day. And Kululu probably knew this the whole time. It made him want to scream. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he shouldn't have trusted that guy.

"How do I—"

"That's all I can tell you for now, Fuyuki," said Saburo. "I have to be going now before anyone else finds us talking here. You know how we're not supposed to talk about these kinds of things on the streets."

Fuyuki nodded. "Saburo… I'm sorry about everything. Take care."

He nodded. "Yeah." Giving one last wave, he darted off.

" _Ku ku ku. So_ that _was the host I was meant to have?_ " Fuyuki heard in his head. Kululu.

He frowned. "Yeah. So?"

" _Ah, I don't mind this little mix-up. Perhaps things have worked out for the better_."

"How, exactly?"

" _Well… you'll see_."

Fuyuki nearly jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and let out his breath when he saw Momoka.

"Oh, Fuyuki!" She threw her arms around him in a hug. "I've been looking everywhere for you!" Then her eyes turned sad. "I take it that you were talking to the Demon King back there?"

"Oh… um…." He gave a nervous laugh. "You saw?"

Momoka nodded, then gave him another hug. "I'm just glad you're okay."

All of a sudden, he felt himself blacking out, shifting to the back of his mind. He realized with dread that Kululu was taking control and he could do nothing about it. Then he watched in horror as his arms wrapped around Momoka and returned her hug.

"Flattered that you had me on your mind, chickadee," Kululu told her.

In his head, Fuyuki shrieked.

Momoka's face exploded in blush. "F-Fuyuki… you're so forward all of a sudden!" Giggling, she broke from the hug and glanced shyly up at him. But the second that she saw that jerky smirk plastered across Fuyuki's face, her hair spiked and her pupils shrunk. "WAIT A SECOND…. YOU'RE… NOT… FUYUKI!" She pushed him away, not hard enough to hurt Fuyuki, but enough so to send the message. Her hair went back to normal. "Sorry, but I only have eyes for Fuyuki!"

"Tch. Hate it when this happens," Kululu grumbled.

Fuyuki decided to try his hand at communicating by asking Kululu, " _WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?_ "

"Well, nice meeting you, but the host 'n I must be going now. Lots of important business to attend to," Kululu told her, "certainly more important than _you._ "

Momoka had to fight herself to keep from punching out his brains.

 _It's official. I hate this guy,_ thought Fuyuki. As Kululu left, Fuyuki attempted the technique that Saburo had told him about. He focused all his willpower to the front of his head and found himself walking in his body. Then he ran straight to the temple, where he found the Temple Head Priest.

"So… many… stairs…" he panted. After a gulp of air, he looked up at the Temple Head. "Sir, I want to return my demon."

The Temple Head looked at him perplexedly. "You… what?"

"I want to return my demon!"

" _Now, is that a very nice thing to do? I can definitely tell you're taking MY feelings into account_ ," said Kululu in his head.

"What feelings? You don't have any!" Fuyuki shouted back.

"E-Excuse me?" The Temple Head looked a bit offended.

"Oh, not you, the Demon King," he explained. "Anyway, can I return him?"

"Return your demon?" The Temple Head shook his temple head. "My boy, demons cannot be returned once you receive them. You…. Well, after two years, they will… leave." He delayed the last word a good few seconds.

"Two years?" Fuyuki panted. "Two years…. Thassright…. It's only two years till this is over." He lowered his head, still trying to catch his breath. After a moment, he stood up again, the kindness gone from his eyes. Kululu had taken over once more.

"These stairs are just what I needed," he remarked.

The Temple Head trembled, recognizing the demon. "A-anything for you, your majesty."

"Please," said Kululu with great modesty, "call me 'your highness.' "

* * *

 **Rainbowkittyblossomwing's here! My sister of course wrote the chapter and in my personal opinion it was amazing.**

 **Anyway, please review!**


	3. Textbooks

**The image for this story keeps resetting to my profile image and I do not know why. Does anybody know why?**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **My chapter this time. And yes, I did go to an embalming lab with my little sister. College tours and all.**

 **Uhhhh... Hope you enjoy the chapter. It was going smoothly in the beginning and then just a bunch of stuff happened, I'm sorry.**

 **More of the plot will come next chapter.**

* * *

Fuyuki opened his eyes groggily, as the familiar sight of his room greeted his eyes.

 _Please tell me the previous day was all just some big nightmare..._ he begged. There was no way... No way he could be the current host for the Demon King, right? And that there was no way to return his demon.

" _Ku, ku, ku... Afraid not. Well, at least afraid for you. This situation suits me just fine, actually._ " Kululu, the Demon King's voice demanded presence, an undeniable presence. Fuyuki's hope that the previous day had just been a bad dream was destroyed.

He noticed when he yawned and stretched, that he wasn't on the bed like he had expected to be. Instead he was on the floor, sitting amongst a few metal scraps and technological parts. They looked like pieces of some sort of monitor.

"MY COMPUTER!" Fuyuki screamed. His hands darted forward to cradle the broken pieces. Had Kululu awakened before he had just so he could break his computer? Was... Was Kululu _that_ evil?

This was a new sort of low. A low that could not be forgiven.

Fuyuki started sniffling more than he ever had before as he mourned the loss of his most treasured possession, due to it having all his notes and theories stored on it.

" _Relax. I'm not that much of a monster. Ku, ku, ku. I would never hurt a guy's computer... Oh wait, sure I would. Ku! Love hacking those things, but I didn't take apart your computer... Yet. Wouldn't want to... get off on the wrong foot, right? KU, KU, KU,_ " Kululu morbidly laughed, knowing that the way their strained relationship was, there _were_ no feet to have a wrong start on. They had probably been cut off by Kululu's sickeningly dislikable nature.

"Then what are all these parts?" Fuyuki asked accusingly.

" _I took apart the cameras stationed around your room. They weren't being put to good use, and I thought I made it pretty clear that I would not be observed. These... cameras were very interesting, though... Ku, ku, ku... Not what I expected at all._ "

"What do you mean by that?" Fuyuki asked. He wanting to furrow his brow in confusion, but instead felt his hands move on their own to piece together some of the equipment. Kululu was probably in command of the body, and all Fuyuki could do now was talk aloud.

" _Secret~ Ku, ku, ku._ " Kululu gave another laugh that echoed in the crevices of Fuyuki's head. He really hated having to hear that laugh so much, but he could tell Kululu wasn't going to tell him any answers. He was apparently too amused by the cameras to pay attention to Fuyuki.

 _Is he making something? Breaking something? What's he doing with them?_ he wondered.

After a few minutes of just letting Kululu play around with the parts, and eventually make some sort of new headset, Fuyuki figured out what he was doing. "You're inventing something! You create things!"

" _Duh_ ," Kululu responded. " _Didn't you ever pay attention in class, kid? I'm a super genius. Every thousand years when I'm resurrected I bring about a new age of technological advancements. Something your people probably don't deserve, but what else am I suppose to do when I'm bored? Might as well invent the latest super computer, right?_ "

Fuyuki didn't answer Kululu. The pieces just slowly fell into place for. _So that's why we let him resurrect and come back. Because we need him. But... he's also SO mean._

" _I heard that! You think I'm mean? Ku, ku, ku. Wow, am I hurt,_ " said Kululu.

 _You know... Call me crazy, but I know he's saying that he's hurt, but for some reason it sounds like he's enjoying himself..._ Fuyuki thought. As he closed his eyes and tried to focus on regaining full control of his body, he drifted more into Kululu's emotions.

He could almost feel them. And to his intense displeasure, Kululu _was_ , in fact, enjoying himself at Fuyuki's obvious discomfort.

 _This guy isn't even trying to be my friend!_ he realized as he drifted in his sub-conscious, trying not to get lost in Kululu's sadistic emotions. There was nothing good about his mood - it was as if he was made of pure evil.

"So... You're back here... In your mind." Kululu stepped out of the shadows of Fuyuki's head. Fuyuki had been trying to gain control, but he had instead just ended up deep in his subconscious, standing in front of the Demon King himself.

"Uhhh... Yeah... Oops." Fuyuki shuffled his feet. "I was... I was trying to gain control - "

"Oh, so it was a competition you were after? Don't challenge the Demon King, boy; it's only going to end badly for you - " Kululu tried to talk in between Fuyuki's sentences but Fuyuki just kept blabbing.

" - And then I just got sucked up in your mean thoughts and all... And now I'm here and - Wait, why was I on the floor when I woke up? When we're asleep, can you take control of me? Are you going to do terrible things while I'm not watching?" Fuyuki's thoughts drifted from topic to topic as he gabbed.

"Wait... You got sucked up in my thoughts and emotions? Ku... A host has never been able to feel any of my emotions before... they've pretty much been focused only on themselves, selfish little things. I suppose I underestimated you as a host, then. This could prove quite troublesome." Kululu seemed taken aback by Fuyuki's statement, for once caught off-guard. But Fuyuki wasn't paying any attention to that, still gabbing on.

"Do you wake up earlier than I do? Am I going to have to give up sleeping in to make sure none of my stuff breaks?" He was panicking, his voice was breathy and terrified at the idea of waking up early.

Kululu took a deep breath, regaining his composure and air of dominance. "Ku, ku, ku. You won't have to give up sleeping in, because nothing you can do will stop me from playing around in your body while you're asleep."

"Wh-whhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaat?"

"Ku, ku, ku. Demons, when they have a human host, do not require sleep. You get to sleep enough for the two of us. That, and since I'm the Demon King, I can pretty much just supply energy to your body if I felt like it, so it wouldn't be too tired."

Fuyuki was shocked and dismayed. "But... Wait... Yesterday, you gave me control when my legs were tired... Are you saying you could have just fixed that with your demon powers? And given me energy and stuff?"

"Ku, ku, ku, ku, ku~"

Fuyuki cried.

"If you want," said Kululu in a suspicious tone, "to make it up to you, I can give you control of the body _now_. After all, it would only be fair since I had you the whole night.~"

"What... What's the catch?" Fuyuki felt himself asking. He hadn't known the Demon King for very long, but figured there was probably a catch involved.

"I don't want to carry stuff into your new dormitory at school, obviously. Ku. No 'moving day' for me. You did decide to go to that god-awful school, right? And I bet I can't get you to change your mind." Kululu looked annoyed, because school seemed to be the only subject of Fuyuki's that he couldn't bend to his will. Fuyuki's willpower and desire to learn was just to strong for him and it would be a constant struggle to not let him go.

"Oh." Fuyuki was sort of happy that Kululu was honest with him. At least he knew what he signed up for. "I'll... I'll take the body, then. You go rest or something."

"Ku, ku, ku. Done and done."

* * *

It didn't take long for Fuyuki to realize, as he was stacking boxes of essential items he wanted to bring to his new home (the dormitories at school were closed off from the rest of the town to keep younger children away from the demons and their host bodies) that Kululu hadn't _returned_ any energy into his body to make up for his all-nighter. Kululu had essentially tricked him just so he could watch Fuyuki struggle with tiredness.

It was official - Kululu was a jerk. But perhaps the Demon King was only a jerk to humans to exert superiority over them?

Perhaps he could ask his mother... She would know more than he would about this. She was much older and wiser. And she was the one who was always saying there were good demons and bad demons and trying to let Fuyuki know he could befriend demons.

She would have some good tips on how to deal with Kululu.

"Mom!" Fuyuki called downstairs after taking a deep breath from all his packing.

There was no response. He eventually hesitantly walked down the stairs to go look for her.

"Mom!" he called again.

" _Ku, ku, ku. Don't you remember? Your mother was taken away by the authorities for disrupting the peace. She won't be here,_ " said Kululu in his head. Fuyuki looked down, disappointed.

"So... Where was she taken?" Fuyuki asked. He didn't know much about the people who disrupted the peace. He didn't know what happened to them. He had never cared enough to ask; it had always been an accepted part of life that didn't seem to bother him.

" _If you're lucky, probably a jail while things are being sorted out,_ " Kululu responded.

Fuyuki felt relief for a moment that Kululu was being so helpful. He knew that Kululu probably intended to take control of his body when he spoke to his mother, but as long as he tried really hard, maybe he could actually speak to her.

There was still hope for him. He just had to have immense willpower, like Saburo had told him.

* * *

People avoided him on the street. They just drifted away, letting him be almost isolated as he walked toward where he assumed his mother was being held.

News of him being the host of the Demon King's host had probably traveled fast.

He didn't care at the moment. All that mattered was seeing Aki.

"I want to visit my mother," Fuyuki tried to politely ask a guard standing watch.

"Kid... you can't just visit someone disrupting the peace... It doesn't work that way," the guard tried to explain.

" _You know, your mother probably isn't even going to acknowledge you_." Kululu's mocking words rung in Fuyuki's head. " _You're the vessel of the Demon King now. You're evil. She'll discard you and throw you away now that you aren't exactly what she wants._ "

"I'm not evil. She doesn't like you. She loves me. Once she sees that I'm the true Fuyuki, she'll talk to me," said Fuyuki. The guard awkwardly coughed, wondering if he should even be in the presence of a kid who most likely had a demon inside of him.

" _She won't be able to see you're the true Fuyuki. And anyway... you have me in you now. You won't be 'just' Fuyuki ever again. Ku, ku, ku. Any mother would become frightened of their own son after the presence I exert onto them,"_ Kululu told him.

"Momoka was able to see that I was the true Fuyuki. If she could do it, then Mom can, too. They both care for me in a similar way," Fuyuki insisted. He began to suspect that the reason Kululu had let him come this far without trying to take control was that he wanted to ruin his relationship with his mother. "Why do you want me to suffer? Why do you want her to hate me?" he finally asked.

" _Ku, ku, ku. I just want you to see the truth at the moment, but suit yourself. You can see it through your own eyes if you want. Don't blame me if you cry. I tried to warn ya._ " Kululu snickered for a moment.

"Family doesn't abandon family," Fuyuki reaffirmed.

" _Nah. All family abandons family eventually. Sometimes you think you won't be abandoned... But really that just means you're all the more closer to being left. If you're even the slightest bit away from what they expect, they'll drop you like a pile of crap_."

"Is... Is that what happened to you...?" he wondered.

" _I've had hosts besides you before. I've seen this same situation many many times. But if you want to be stupid and go talk to 'Momma dearest,' be my guest. You'll see... And then you'll be wishing you hadn't,_ " Kululu went on.

Fuyuki tried to keep himself from shaking at Kululu's words. He had to keep himself determined and optimistic. He knew his family better than Kululu did.

There was no way that would happen to him. Kululu was just trying to unnerve him so that he could take control during a crucial moment with Aki.

* * *

Fuyuki was finally let into the hallway in front of Aki's cell after he explained that he was the current host of the Demon King.

He took a deep breath and looked at his mother, who was huddled in a corner, looking worse than she had ever looked before.

It looked like all the fight was out of her eyes. She had given up entirely. Her hair was in tangles and her body was sweaty and dirty from lying on the stone floor. Her eyes were big and puffy from crying.

"Mom," Fuyuki greeted, "I... I wanted to talk to you... Are you okay?"

"You're the Demon, aren't you? Come to mock me or something? The woman who's lost everything? A husband, and more than one child to your kind?" Aki didn't even look up.

"Mom." He raised his voice. "I'm not the Demon. I'm Fuyuki! Your son!"

"Doesn't matter. You'll be the Demon King soon. He'll take control, and then you won't be Fuyuki anymore." Aki sounded seemed monotonous. She shivered at the thought of the Demon King in Fuyuki's body.

"He... He won't take control this time! I won't let him! He seems content to just watch you interact with me. He thinks you'll abandon me or something... He's wrong, Mom. He's so very wrong." Fuyuki tried to talk sense into his mother, but his mind drowned by laughter at Kululu's amusement at the situation, at Aki's suffering and her distance from Fuyuki.

"Abandon you? But you aren't Fuyuki... You'll never be Fuyuki anymore. Fuyuki is gone... just like Natsumi. It's all the same... No matter how hard I tried, it's all the same." Aki begin to cry.

"It's not the same! I won't... I won't go missing like Natsumi!" he insisted.

"But you are gone. You are gone, Fuyuki," Aki told him. "Please... If you are Fuyuki, or if there's a Fuyuki in there, please just do one thing for me... If you ever cared for me do this one thing."

"Anything, Mom."

"Leave me alone. I don't want to see you parading around in my son's body. Just... be gone, Fuyuki. I almost wish you were gone... It would be easier... So please... be gone."

Fuyuki took a step back in shock. He didn't feel any tears fall down his cheeks and instead felt a familiar darkness and dizziness. Kululu was taking over again.

"Wow. Mother of the year award, right here," Kululu laughed, mocking Aki. "Proving my point once again that families are the worst and that they suck. What's that now... Nine host families that have rejected me? Ku, ku, ku. I almost feel unappreciated." Fuyuki's body shrugged its shoulders, under Kululu's command. "But you should hear how your precious baby boy is crying inside his mind, how hurt he is, ah.~ Music to my ears."

"Leave," Aki ordered, gritting her teeth.

Fuyuki didn't need to be told twice. He focused all his willpower, all his anger and sadness on taking control again, just so he could run out of there. He was met with semi-success as he ran - not out of there, but into a wall instead, much to his disappointment.

He looked behind him and rubbed his head to see if his mother was showing concern for him. But instead she just looked away, whispering about Haru, Natsumi, and now Fuyuki. How they were all gone.

Fuyuki wanted to cry, so he curled away into the only place he deemed was safe - his mind - letting Kululu have free reins as Fuyuki cried.

* * *

"Ku, ku, ku... This room also is interesting." Fuyuki only clued in to what Kululu was doing a few hours later. Kululu stood in their single-person dorm room, which looked huge - fit for a king.

Fuyuki had expected Kululu might have demanded an impressive room, but this was going a little bit far.

" _Why's it interesting?_ " Fuyuki asked. He rubbed at his own eye, expecting there to be tears. There was nothing though. He hadn't cried, in reality - it was almost spooky to him how dry his own eye was.

"Because this room was set up for you _before_ the mix-up of you becoming my host," Kululu told him. He observed the room in greater detail. "Nishizawa architecture. Just like I expected. You're friends with a Nishizawa, aren't you?"

" _Yeah... She was that girl you met yesterday who recognized the difference between us_ ," Fuyuki admitted.

"Ku. So that was the Nishizawa. I wonder what interests her about a dweeb like you," he laughed. Fuyuki didn't really get what he was trying to say.

Instead, he looked around the room, and noticed something significant. " _You... You moved all my stuff here!_ "

"Yeah... So?" Kululu asked.

" _I thought you didn't want to do that!_ "

"I changed my mind. Also I wanted to test out a device that teleports matter. It had a few side effects... one of your shirts now has tentacles on it, along with it being merged with a sock, but it worked generally well." Kululu brushed it off.

Still, Fuyuki didn't make a big deal of it. This was a big improvement from the guy who just liked to jerk Fuyuki around. Was... Was he perhaps showing Fuyuki sympathy for how Aki had treated him?

Was there some good in Kululu?

There was a loud ringing sound, interrupting Fuyuki's thoughts. At first he thought Kululu was the one who had caused this ringing to annoy him, but then he slowly realized it was the bell for his first class.

" _We need to go! I'll be late for class!_ " Fuyuki realized.

"Not my problem. Ku, ku, ku. I don't even want to go to class. I can not tell you how many times I've already been to school learning the _same_ dumb stuff that I don't need to know. I suppose if you want to run to class, you can, though..." Kululu gave up control of the body, letting Fuyuki's legs collapse from under him in surprise.

Fuyuki picked himself up and ran.

This was the one thing in his life that was good - the one thing he was excited for. He would not miss class.

Not now, not ever.

* * *

The first people Fuyuki noticed in the classroom were Saburo and Momoka. Saburo had probably been put in the class now that he no longer had the Demon King.

Saburo had a mischievous and happy smirk on his face and had his feet on the desk. He was looking much better than he had been the previous day.

Momoka waved at Fuyuki and motioned for him to come sit by her.

"Hello students!" A young-looking teacher bowed. She seemed new to the job. "Welcome to secondary school. This is where you not only learn more about demon society, history, and the outside of town, but also the basic knowledge of demon sociology, psychology, and biology, along with a hands-on learening environment to try to get to know your personal demon better... To learn their strengths and weaknesses, becoming very good friends in the process!" She beamed at her students, trying to give everybody the benefit of the doubt that they had all been given good demons.

" _Boring! I am the Demon King. I already know this... Hmmm... How about we make class a little bit more interesting..."_ The teacher turned her back as Kululu gained control of Fuyuki's fingers, and a spark shot out of them and into the giant board connected to a computer that would serve as a large, touchable computer screen.

The lesson plans that were on there were wiped, and everything went dark as it destroyed the teacher's information.

"Nooo!" the teacher cried as she looked at the screen. "This is terrible!"

"Stop it, Kululu!" Fuyuki tried to whisper to Kululu, as he continued using Fuyuki's hands to shoot electrical surges to break various important equipment in the room.

He knew demons usually had special powers, but he didn't know they used them in such... an immature way.

Saburo looked over at him and noticed what Kululu was doing. Instead of telling the teacher, he just laughed.

 _I didn't know Saburo liked pranks so much._ Fuyuki could feel himself stiffen up (Kululu was probably making him) as his eyes - under Kululu's command - scanned Saburo up and down, as if to size him up.

"I see you like pranks a lot," Saburo leaned over and whispered to Kululu. "Do you want to maybe have a competition? See who can do it better? I don't mean to brag, but I am a master at it."

"Ku, ku, ku... Interesting proposal. Nobody ever challenges the Demon King and wins," Kululu laughed back.

The teacher at the front of the room continued crying, not paying attention to the two students interacting in the back of the classroom. "All right, everybody! Take a five-minute break while I try to figure out how to get this running again..." she begged.

"So it's on, then? Right now?" Saburo asked, excitedly rubbing his hands together.

"Wait!" Fuyuki took control of his voice, even though it took an immense amount of effort. "I'm glad you're feeling happier, Saburo, but isn't this bad for the school... I... I didn't know you were like this! A prankster!"

Saburo blinked at Fuyuki for a moment, confused. "Oh! You think I'm Saburo!" The person who wasn't Saburo laughed. "Nah, my name is Keroro! I'm the demon currently in control of this boy."

" _So the host I would have had gave up fighting against his demon and just relinquished all control to him. Ku. I thought that would happen, with the way he was looking so depressed yesterday,_ " Kululu laughed. It was quite amusing to see the host he would have had in so much pain that he didn't care now who was in control of his body.

"Is... Is Saburo okay?" Fuyuki asked.

"I... I don't know," Keroro admitted. "He doesn't talk much. He just said I could go ahead and have as much fun as I wanted. Lucky me, right?" He laughed. "You're... Fuyuki, aren't you? or are you the Demon King? Fuyuki's the guy I would have been in, right?"

Fuyuki looked at Keroro for a moment with jealousy. This guy seemed happy-go-lucky, easygoing. Something about him made Fuyuki just want to be near him and talk to him for hours on end. This guy looked like someone Fuyuki would have been able to make life long friends with. So much unlike Kululu.

" _Be careful,_ " Kululu warned. " _I've noticed your eyes are lingering on Keroro longer than they should be. Keroro might be using his power, and just like all mortals, you're extremely susceptible! Ku, ku, ku."_

"Powers? Like the electricity you shot out of your hand?" Fuyuki whispered so not everybody could hear. "Do... Do all demons have powers?"

" _Yep. Keroro's powers are, if I remember correctly, gathering people's attention, making him well-liked. Charisma, basically, but an uncontrollable kind. Kind of useless in my opinion, but for some people, they know just how to use it,_ " Kululu explained.

"Are your powers electricity?" Fuyuki asked.

" _Kid. I'm the Demon King. I'm the most powerful being ever. I got a lot of powers_."

Fuyuki was very interested in seeing the Demon's powers, learning more about them. "Tell me more."

" _Nah, don't feel like it. Study up on your own time,_ " Kululu answered lazily, irritating Fuyuki.

"So... Are we competing on who's the bigger prankster or what?" Keroro asked. Fuyuki was unable to stop Kululu from shifting forward and taking control.

"You're on." Kululu responded.

Keroro snickered and looked around for a victim, someone to prank. Kululu didn't do anything; instead he waited until Keroro was ready to make his move.

Keroro walked forward to a girl sitting in class, probably to use his powers to gain her attention and then make her do something stupid under his command - Fuyuki would never know, because then Kululu made his move.

He zapped Keroro with a great surge of electricity, frying him.

"AUGHHH!" Keroro screamed.

"Oh dear, oh dear... Saburo Hojo to the medical room!" the teacher ordered over an intercom.

"Ku, ku, ku. Don't challenge me to a competition on who will be a better jerk cuz it'll always be me."

" _It wasn't a competition on who was the better jerk. It was a_ prankster _competition_..." Fuyuki reminded him.

"I'm not a prankster. And if I was, I would have just stopped, because him being one is just a big turn-off from the entire thing. Gross. Ku, ku, ku." Kululu sat in Fuyuki's chair with a satisfied grin on his face.

 _He's a jerk to demons too? How the heck did the demons even let this guy be the Demon King? Wouldn't they want to throw him out?_

Fuyuki almost felt sorry for those other poor demons.

* * *

It took twenty minutes to get a new set of software to do a class lecture. The teacher was finally ready to actually teach.

"Today is mostly just a review day to make sure all of you students have the basic knowledge down... No, I'm not talking about science or math or grammar, I'm talking about history, since these classes in secondary school will be primarily focused on them. You should already have learned the science and math and grammar skills you need to be successful in this school," she explained.

" _Ku, ku, ku. Hoo boy. If there's one subject I hate learning over and over again it's HISTORY. I'm just going to tune her out and listen to some music or something mm'kay?"_ Kululu asked, but didn't really care for an answer.

"You can listen to music... inside my head?" Fuyuki was very confused.

"Now, you all know about the ancient Nishizawa contract, right?" asked the teacher. "The contract that made it so that all of you get possessed when you're fourteen to give the Demons time on our plane, and so that they can help us? It's a perfect example of a symbiotic relationship, but can anyone... Momoka Nishizawa, I think you'd be the perfect person to tell us this! Under what circumstance that contract was formed."

"It was formed during the war," Momoka recited. "Back then, demons and humans don't get along as well as they do now. They actually hated and annoyed each other quite a bit. But during the war, my family realized that apart, we could not win it against our common enemy, so instead they met with the Demon King and negotiated a contract to enter a new age of peace. This contract helped us befriend the demons and made the society we now live in today."

"Was that a Demon King before you, or was that you? Do demons have a similar lifespan to humans?" Fuyuki whispered to Kululu.

" _You know you can just ask me in your head. If you think a thought clearly enough, I should be able to hear it,"_ Kululu told him. Fuyuki felt embarrassed at his lack of knowledge.

He tried thinking clearly. "Well then?"

" _I lived back then. Yeah. They're talking about the same guy. And obviously we have a long lifespan, since I only come to your plane every one thousand years since that war. The Nishizawas decided to put that in the contract... luckily, I was able to find a loophole and make it so I came back every thousand years, instead of_ never, _like they originally wanted."_ Kululu seemed to hiss in his mind at the Nishizawas who had attempted to trick him out of life.

"But you lived during the big war! That's so cool! You probably know everything about it, being at the front lines and all!" Fuyuki seemed very impressed.

Kululu remained silent.

"Now..." the teacher went on, "you all ought to know by now about the enemy we were fighting in the war, the angels, who sought to destroy both us and the demons. And how they sought to destroy us, thinking that they were morally superior and that we were 'sinful creatures.' " The teacher looked around to see if this was news to anyone.

It wasn't.

"Fuyuki Hinata... What happened to the angels after they fought us?" she asked.

Fuyuki, to his surprise, did not find Kululu trying to struggle for control. He was probably still listening to music and ignoring the history lesson.

"They went extinct," Fuyuki said simply. He had done a tiny bit of research on angels before going to secondary school. Unlike information on demons, everybody had access to the documents about angels. Problem was, there wasn't very much information _on_ them, since nobody really researched them back when they were actually alive.

Fuyuki was interested in extinct creatures, but angels had never really caught his eyes. Maybe it was because they were the symbol of all things evil and had attempted to destroy humanity and demonkind, or maybe it was just because he thought dinosaurs were cooler.

It was probably the dinosaurs.

* * *

Fuyuki felt himself drifting out of the teacher's lecture mentally and instead spacing off. She was mostly just covering things he already knew. He had expected there to be more new content to him during the first day of class, like all the secrets of society would be his to learn, and that the Illuminati was revealed to be hiding in plain sight!

But there was nothing like that the first day.

So his mind drifted off to what he liked doing best, theorizing. And the current subject on his mind was Kululu.

The guy was such a jerk. And not just to humans, like Fuyuki had first believed. He was a jerk to everybody.

 _So that means Kululu definitely wasn't_ voted _into the position of Demon King. It's probably a monarchial system in the demon realm. He probably inherited it from his father._ Fuyuki liked wondering about demon society, and he felt this theory was pretty likely.

 _If he's so much of a jerk, then... I wonder why he hasn't been pressured into giving heirs so they can get rid of him or something..._ Fuyuki didn't like to think about the thought of Kululu having children. He just hoped the heirs were better-natured than Kululu. _Wait... DOES he have any children?_ Kululu was pretty old, at least 10,000 years, that much he knew.

"Hey Kululu... Do you have any heirs? Any children?" Fuyuki asked.

" _Wh-what?_ " Kululu seemed shocked at the question. " _Of course not. At least... I THINK I don't... Nah, I would have known if I did._ " His confusion just made Fuyuki confused.

 _Speaking of that... I wonder how demons even reproduce... I mean... They did tell us they'd eventually teach us biology, but... do demons reproduce the way humans do?_ Fuyuki didn't realize how deeply he was thinking about demon reproduction methods until Kululu said something.

" _I see you have sex on the brain. Ku, ku, ku. Sadly, it isn't the first time I've had a host going through puberty._ " Kululu seemed to have only picked up Fuyuki's thoughts about reproduction and nothing more.

"It's not like that!" Fuyuki insisted, making sure to think his thoughts instead of saying them. "I was thinking about how demons reproduce... and..."

" _Oh, ho? So you're curious about our reproduction methods. Disgusting. I didn't take you for a gross pervert_ ," he teased him.

"It's not like that at all! I just want to know as much as I can about your species." He prayed that the method wasn't the same as the human one and that Kululu wouldn't start hitting on him.

" _I wonder how everybody would feel about you, if they knew what was on your brain. Ku, ku, ku!_ " Kululu laughed and took control of Fuyuki's body, raising his hand.

"Yes, Fuyuki? Did you have a question?" the teacher asked.

"Yeah! Um... I was wondering... How do demons reproduce?" Kululu pretended to be bashful, making the class look at Fuyuki and laugh at his weird and probably inappropriate question.

Fuyuki could tell only the demons were laughing though. The other humans that were in control of their own bodies seemed just as confused as he was, and curious.

"Uhhhhhhh..." The teacher looked bashful, like even she didn't know. She skimmed through a textbook. "They devour each others heads and then lay eggs..." she finally decided.

" _God. Every thousand years I forget how stupid humans are about us._ " Kululu seemed disgusted by the current theory about demon reproduction.

The teacher blushed, hoping the students hadn't realized that she didn't know how demons reproduced, either.

"Um... I think that's actually wrong," Momoka admitted. "They reproduce through sexual reproduction, just like us."

Fuyuki didn't know how Momoka knew that, but he didn't want Momoka to look over at him and think he was weird for asking.

He sunk in his chair, embarrassed. "I didn't ask that, you know. It was Kululu," he insisted.

"I know. I can tell which is which," she told him.

At that moment, Fuyuki could feel Kululu push forward, probably to test if this was true. Fuyuki tried to fight him, but was no match.

"So it's just like us humans do it, huh?" Kululu pretended to be Fuyuki. "Maybe we should learn more about the demon reproduction, you know, for research's sake. I mean, I know you want something like that with me."

Momoka blushed deeply. "Don't you dare try to impersonate my Fuyuki, Demon King. And don't imply such nasty things."

"Ku, ku, ku. I suppose you do seem to be able to tell which is which quite easily, still must be hard seeing the boy you like saying these sort of things," Kululu pointed out.

"I... I don't like him!" Momoka denied with a heavy blush, knowing Fuyuki was watching.

"My mistake. I suppose you're just a creepy stalker, then... I mean, what other reason would there be for Nishizawa cameras in his room? You were obviously watching him. Ku, ku, ku. I especially like, how to my surprise, those cameras were put up _before_ I was in the kid's body, making it quite clear you were watching _him_ and not me."

Fuyuki felt shocked as Momoka tried desperately to deny it.

 _The cameras in my room were to watch me? Momoka was spying on me? But... But we're friends... I trusted her._ Fuyuki pushed forward to be the one in control of his body.

"Did... Did you really put security cameras in my room to watch me, Momoka?" he asked, shocked.

Momoka stuttered for a second, but eventually gave in. "Y-yes... I did, but you don't understand... I'm so sorry, Fuyuki..." She tried not to cry as he turned away from her.

"I already have a demon invading my body and privacy! I can't believe you invaded my privacy, too!"

The bell rang, signaling a break from class. Fuyuki ran out of the classroom, filled with anger and a sense of betrayal.

* * *

Kululu wasn't trying to take over, and Fuyuki knew exactly why.

Kululu _wanted_ his anger at Momoka to fester. He was even talking about how terrible that Nishizawa girl was and how invading privacy was terrible.

"Why are you so awful? Why do you enjoy making people suffer so much?" Fuyuki asked.

" _Ku, ku, ku. It's fun._ "

"But... Why do you want to make me so mad at Momoka? Why can't... you reassure me or something or send me off to make up with her?" Fuyuki kind of did want to make up, but he was so mad. And it wasn't helping, all the terrible stuff Kululu was saying. But he had been right about Aki... maybe he was right about Momoka too.

" _What can I say? I'm a relationship-breaker, not a maker_."

"What... What does that mean?" Fuyuki asked, confused.

" _My hosts have tried to pursue relationships before. That was WAY awkward for me, as you can imagine, so... I broke 'em up. Ku, ku, ku. Even the most dedicated of lovers will hate each other after my influence."_ Kululu almost sounded proud.

"Momoka isn't a relationship, though! She's a person! A real one with feelings! Maybe she had a reason for what she did. Maybe I should give her the benefit of the doubt. After all... she's my friend and she'd give me a second chance," Fuyuki decided, trying to smile.

" _Wrong move, kiddo. That girl is going to try to sink her teeth into you, and then what will I do? If things get too serious I suppose I could always... make her disappear or something. Sure, she's a Nishizawa, but I'm not going to sit around and let you two act like lovesick teenagers, even if you are on the dense side,_ " Kululu mumbled, mostly to himself.

Fuyuki felt anger at the thought of Kululu making Momoka disappear, probably in a similar way that Natsumi had vanished. What filled Fuyuki's gut with dread was the fact that he knew Kululu could do it, too. Kululu was the Demon King, the single most powerful being. He had tons of supernatural powers and he knew, even if he had all the willpower in the world, he'd have to sleep eventually, and that's when Kululu would strike.

"No wonder you have no heirs - "

" _It's because I hate brats. They're gross,_ " Kululu tried to tell him.

"And no Demon Queen. You'd probably break her too. You're an expert relationship-breaker, as you said. You even destroy your own relationships. I thought we could be friends, Kululu... But you might have just broken this, too." Fuyuki tried to sound strict, calm, and frightening, although he mostly just sounded like he was filled with anger.

He took over control of his entire body's functions, with little resistance from Kululu, to his surprise.

Kululu had drawn quiet after Fuyuki's anger-filled outburst. Although Fuyuki was happy for a moment at that silence, he almost felt uneasy about it, like something was wrong. Like Kululu was plotting evil.

* * *

Fuyuki ran off to talk to Momoka, to try to make amends with her. He found her talking to Saburo - or Keroro - who had just healed from his injuries.

"So... What did you like most about being in your last host, Keroro?" Momoka seemed to be asking the demon a lot of personal questions, which Keroro was happily answering. "That's great! Please tell me more!"

Fuyuki hadn't seen Momoka that interested in something before. At least... he thought he hadn't.

"Hey... Kululu... You didn't like Momoka's relationship with me because you, um... thought we were like dating, right?" Fuyuki asked, trying not to be awkward as he peered around the corner. "Well, I just wanted to tell you there's nothing to worry about. I mean, look at her! She seems really interested in Keroro... Oh also we're just friends."

Kululu didn't answer. He stayed quiet.

 _Is... Is he mad? Maybe he's giving me the silent treatment because he thought I was going to get into a relationship with Momoka and then that would be awkward for him. I can imagine it would be awkward being in someone's body when they were on a date with someone._ Fuyuki could understand Kululu's anger, in that case. _Or maybe he's mad because I said we weren't going to be friends._

"I'm sorry. I really won't date Momoka. I promise. There's nothing between us," Fuyuki told Kululu. He waited for an answer, but there was nothing. "I didn't mean I'd give up on our friendship... I didn't understand how you felt, and how you were feeling... I'll try to be a better friend." He had to make up with Kululu. This was the guy he was going to be living with for two years, after all.

" _Ku, ku, ku. You're a pretty dumb kid, you know that?"_ Kululu finally spoke again. " _I'm glad that I won't have to sit through any awkward disgusting teen make-outs though. Ku, ku, ku. You'd probably be pretty bad at it._ " Kululu didn't answer his offer of friendship, but Fuyuki was relieved for a moment that Kululu was talking again instead of plotting.

He could tell that, even though Kululu was insulting him, it was much better than evil plotting or confusing silence. It was his new normalcy.

Now all he needed to do was make up with Momoka.

" _Fine... you can go talk to her,_ " Kululu agreed after Fuyuki blasted his thoughts about friendship for a few minutes.

Kululu's agreement was enough for Fuyuki. He skipped off to talk to Momoka.

"Momoka. Uhhh..." He didn't know what to say, he realized.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I... I... I put the cameras in your house back when I was going through my possession and had to go through isolation. I was so lonely but I still wanted to see you so I watched you through some Nishizawa cameras Paul set up," she confessed. "I'm sorry! I just wanted to still see you every day!"

Fuyuki looked shocked that that was the reason the cameras were up. He pat Momoka's head and smiled. "It's all right. I... I forgive you."

Momoka smiled back at him. She was happy he understood.

Suddenly, Fuyuki felt his hand tighten around her hair and pull it.

"Gross. I'm not sitting around for this friendship fest." Kululu, who had taken over the body once again, turned around and left Momoka.

He headed for the one place he still hated a lot, but slightly less than friendship - the classroom.

* * *

It was almost the end of a very, very long day for Fuyuki. There was only one thing left that the teacher wanted to assign them.

"I still want to make sure you all have the basic knowledge down, so I've prepared a test!" She handed out the papers for the test.

Fuyuki realized he had spent most of the day thinking about things other than schoolwork and review.

"Uhhhh..." He tried to do his best, anyway, and look at the paper. Surprisingly, he felt Kululu's attention focus at the test.

" _What was the the first battle that humanity and the demons won together against the angels? What a boring question,_ " Kululu said.

"Wait... Kululu... You were there, right? Can't you... You know, help me answer the questions?" Fuyuki asked.

" ' _Fraid that's cheating. With a noble spirit and soul like mine, I would never cheat. I'm the nicest of guys, don't you know? Ku, ku, ku."_ Kululu laughed at Fuyuki's pain as Fuyuki scribbled in an answer.

"What was the angel who was sent to destroy humanity referred to?" Fuyuki tried to think of the answer. "They were the messenger of death, right?"

" _Don't ask me. I don't care about your test scores,_ " Kululu responded.

"Um... okay, how many years does a demon possession last? Oh, yeah! Two years."

" _Ku ku ku ku... now you're just being a nerd_."

Fuyuki continued going through his test, feeling unconfident about his answers but realizing that Kululu only mocked him when his answers were right. He finally got to the end of the test.

"How were the angels defeated in the final battle?" Fuyuki asked mostly himself. "I know that one! It's an easy one. The Demon King killed them - "

" _They killed themselves from their own stupidity_ ," Kululu responded. _"You'll get it wrong if you write that."_

"But..."

" _I was there, kid. I saw it happen. They died because of their stupid stupid decisions,_ " he advised.

Fuyuki wrote what Kululu advised and handed it in.

"Great job, class! You all did perfectly, which is good, because the questions were pretty easy... but you did well! Uhhh... except for you, Fuyuki. You got the last one wrong, and the last one was actually the easiest. I'm a little worried for you, honestly," the teacher told him in front of his whole class.

Fuyuki wanted to sink back in his chair, embarrassed. Kululu had given him the wrong advice! Probably on purpose.

"I answered that question correctly!" Fuyuki felt himself stand up and his voice retort back to the teacher. It took him a moment to realize Kululu had taken control and that... Kululu's voice was almost shaking in anger.

The teacher giggled for a moment. "Umm... I'm sorry, but my answer key says otherwise."

"I don't care about your dumb answer key! I am the Demon King! I may not have contributed any answers to the test besides that one question, but I can say for certain that I answered it correctly." Kululu crossed Fuyuki's arms and gave an icy cold glare at the teacher.

The teacher seemed too dumb to even be afraid of the Demon King himself.

"Well, the text books say otherwise, Mr. Demon King. If you please sit down, perhaps we can go over why you were wrong?" she requested.

"I WAS THERE! I know way more than any textbooks! I am the Demon King himself! I am not wrong!" Kululu was bellowing now in anger. "They killed themselves out of stupidity!"

"Um... Mr. Demon King. And Mr. Hinata too... If you continue throwing a temper tantrum, I'll have to send you out into the hall..." She tried to be quiet so they wouldn't get embarrassed.

Kululu's eyes narrowed.

" _Nobody_ orders the Demon King. If I leave the classroom, it will be of my own will. And it so happens that I _do_ want to ditch this place." Kululu then stormed out of the classroom. "You'll regret trying to correct me."

Fuyuki could feel his murderous aura, and it honestly frightened him.

But at the same time... seeing such a human side of Kululu get angry over being corrected made Fuyuki a bit more comfortable. Kululu had other emotions besides evil.

There might be something deep down worth trying to get to.

* * *

 **Please review! And tell me if anyone else is having trouble with the image display for stories.**


	4. Shoes

**Disclaimer: Do not own anything.**

 **Runwithscissors wrote the chapter. (I'll turn it over to her now to do some author noting)**

 **Here is my insight (she wants me to write my insight): Kululu is a big baby, the end of chap is crap**

* * *

"Arg…. Just who does that teacher think she is!"

Kururu paced around in the hallway, angrily fidgeting with Fuyuki's hair as he did so. He paced so much that at one point he ended up outside.

"I mean, really, she thinks just because she's got an _answer key_ that she knows the right answers! I was there ten thousand years ago. I would know! And yet she still has the nerve to mark that question wrong. I should—I should sue her, that's what I should do!"

" _I'm sure she didn't mean you any harm_ ," Fuyuki tried to assure him.

He could feel his facial muscles twist into a glare. "Like I was talking to _you_."

" _Really_ ," Fuyuki told him. " _You need. To calm. Down. She's probably a new teacher. She probably doesn't know._ "

Kululu considered this for a moment, or at least he seemed to, because he didn't respond to Fuyuki. He wasn't continuing his spoiled tantrum any longer, either.

" _Look… it's over now… you know that the teacher has made a mistake. Can I just have my body back so I can go to my dorm room now and cry about how my mom has completely rejected me?_ "

Kululu thought a moment. Then he nodded. "All right. I guess that sounds fair."

 _Good,_ thought Fuyuki. _I knew that if I made myself look pathetic he'd give in. Now I don't have to deal with him embarrassing me by throwing a tantrum in my body. I don't need anything ELSE to worry about today!_

As Fuyuki grabbed his books and headed on home, a strange presence loomed over him.

"I've found him at last…" said the looming presence in a hushed whisper, panting from much travel. "A lot quicker than I expected. Who knew that the Demon King would have given himself away _so_ easily!" He wiped a bit of sweat off his brow and smiled. "This certainly makes my job a lot easier. The boy, though…" He frowned. "This is not going to be easy. I suppose at this point I ought to be used to taking the lives of so many young ones. Still…" A shudder ran through him. "Ahh, I feel so bad about this! Please forgive me, child. It is for the greater good." He unsheathed a knife from behind his back and looked down upon it. No, it was too early right now. He would not have a good shot. He needed to wait for the right moment, like a rattlesnake.

* * *

Fuyuki did not rest well that night. When he drifted off into the land of sleep, he had strange dreams of the teacher from class being taken away just like his mom had. Then they both rotted miserably in jail, Aki still thinking of Fuyuki as Kululu and nothing more. So it was no surprise that when he woke up, he could feel a miserable day coming. Bad sleep usually didn't signify the start of a good day.

He dressed, brushed his teeth, and thought about making himself breakfast. He stood in the dorm room's kitchenette for a good five minutes until he realized that he would be eating by himself yet again. His mom was gone. She was in jail. He was alone in this journey.

"I'm all alone," he lamented.

And then the voice in his head responded, " _Ku ku ku. You will never be alone anymore. Not while I'm in here_."

This reminder was less than pleasing. So Fuyuki skipped on breakfast. Oddly enough, it wasn't like he was hungry, anyway. A curious notion tugged at him in the back of his head.

"Hey… Kululu…. You didn't make me eat while I was asleep, did you?"

" _Me? Nah_ ," Kululu denied. " _Well… I may have made a bit of curry. And eaten it_." He could sense Kululu grinning. " _It was damn good curry. Too bad you didn't have any of it. You were asleep._ "

Fuyuki didn't like curry too much, anyway, so that was okay. "What else did you do while I was asleep?" he wanted to know.

" _Oh… I just made a few new devices. You know. Things to make life easier_."

"Like… what?"

" _Look at your bookshelf_."

Fuyuki looked over at the bookshelf. It was bare, save for one shiny white laptop that gleamed like it had been bought from a first-rate shop. He was shocked. "You made me a laptop? But why?"

Kululu paused a moment before promptly bursting into laughter. " _Made YOU a laptop? Ku ku ku. Certainly not. This baby is for me and me only! You think we got internet on the demon realm? Well, you'd be wrong._ "

Fuyuki was a little disappointed. It did look like a really good laptop. "Did you invent the internet, too?"

" _Unfortunately, no. And it saddens me a lot to say that. Some other bozo got there before I did._ "

"Well, you can't do EVERYTHING by yourself," Fuyuki figured.

" _Yes I can! I am the Demon King!_ "

At that point Fuyuki sort of tuned him out, because then Kululu went on this long rant about how everyone should obey him and how he was the master of all technology and blah blah blah.

" _And another thing. Why do you get the master dorm room? Why didn't they prepare one for me, AFTER knowing that I would be inhabiting you? What makes YOU so special?_ " he droned on.

"I don't know, I don't know!" Fuyuki insisted. Then he added, "I'm not anything special!"

" _Ku. Well, at least I got you to admit it_."

"H-hey!"

Fuyuki tried to send a glare at him, but because Kululu was in his head, this would not suffice. So he dismissed him with a sigh. Why did he have to be so mean all the time? Did the guy have nothing better to do than to torment his host? Peeved, in the innocent, half-forgiving way only Fuyuki could be, he grabbed his book bag and headed off to class. If he was lucky he would get there before the bell rang to signal the start of class.

Going through the hallway, he noticed several groups of people bunched together and murmuring amongst each other. Could there be something going on? It was only his second day of secondary school.

At the end of the hallway, he spotted Momoka, and walked right past the door of their classroom to greet her. "Hey Momoka! What's going on? Everyone's talking about som—"

He stopped himself when he noticed Momoka speaking to someone. The conversation had something to do with books and parfaits. _Better not interrupt_ , he told himself. Still, curiosity got the better of him and he craned his neck to see who she was speaking to. Oddly, he couldn't see anyone.

So he turned around and headed back to the classroom.

 _Wait, no! I didn't want to do that!_ Fuyuki realized. By now, he recognized what this meant: Kululu was taking control again. When he got back to the classroom, Kululu plopped down into a chair, swiped out brand-new laptop, and opened it up.

" _Kululu, why did we have to leave?_ " Fuyuki asked.

Kululu turned the laptop on. "She was in the middle of a conversation, kid. Don't you know it's rude to interrupt?"

Due to the tone of his voice, Fuyuki suspected there was something else, but with much disappointment he realized he wouldn't be able to get it out of him. He wondered if it had to do with who Momoka was talking to.

 _She couldn't have been talking to a demon, could she?_ he speculated. No, of course she couldn't have been. Momoka's demon already left her. And besides, he knew now that you could just communicate silently with a demon instead of talking out loud one-sidedly with them.

He was torn from his thoughts as the bell rang. All the kids poured into the classroom and Momoka took a seat close to him. If he had control of his body, he would have smiled at her to say good-morning, but Kululu just put his feet up on the desk, popped on a pair of headphones, and ignored her completely.

"Well, good morning to you too, Mr. Demon King," said Momoka with zero sarcasm.

"Mm," Kululu returned.

"Ahem," came a voice by the front of the classroom.

"And may I speak to Fuyuki?"

"Kid's asleep," he lied.

Getting the point, Momoka withdrew for the time being, a scowl on her face as she turned away.

Beside Fuyuki, Saburo took a seat, looking as cheerful as he was yesterday, at least before his electrocution. Fuyuki figured that he had been fully healed, and was probably still being controlled by Keroro. Ohh, how he wished he had gotten Keroro instead of Kululu, uncontrollable charisma or no!

"Mornin,' Fuyuki," Keroro tried to greet. Then he looked at the laptop and headphones. "Or Kululu, I guess." He winced a little.

"You mean, your majesty," Kululu corrected.

"Ahem!" came the voice by the front of the classroom again.

"You just gonna ignore everyone all day? Fine." Keroro turned away from him, as well.

"AHEM."

They finally shot their attention toward the front of the room, where some adult had been clearing his throat impatiently for a good half a minute now. Once he saw that everyone was now focused on him, he smiled and placed his fingers together. Only his eyes smiled, because his mouth was covered by a medical mask.

"Good morning, class," he said cheerfully. "It seems your previous teacher cannot be with us today. I have received unfortunate news that she has disrupted the peace and will be spending some time away from her teaching career."

 _Like that timing isn't at all suspicious,_ thought Fuyuki, a pit of dread in his gut.

"In the meantime, I will be taking over for her." He smiled again. "Please don't mind the mask—I'm very sickly, although I still wish to teach you all. Oh, and my name is…" He glanced down at a card. "Mr. Dororo. Well, introductions aside, I hope you all will treat me well!"

He bowed to them, and it was curious to the class how he didn't take off the very tall hat he wore in doing so.

"Um… Mr. Dororo?" A girl raised her hand. "Your forehead is bleeding."

"Oh." Mr. Dororo paled for a moment, and quickly dabbed the blood off with a tissue. "Um… that was actually sweat. You see, I suffer from a very unfortunate condition, in which, ah, my sweat looks like blood."

"Ew!" the class exclaimed.

"I'm sure, however, that we all can just move past this, and focus on the more important part of this school, learning!" Mr. Dororo said to them.

Keroro elbowed Kululu gently in the side. "Hey, doesn't that guy seem a bit familiar to you?"

He didn't even glance up.

Keroro shrugged. "Must have been my imagination."

Mr. Dororo paused and glanced toward the back of the classroom. "Fuyuki Hinata, please take your feet off your desk," he requested. "Also, you know that headphones and laptops aren't allowed in class. I'll be taking them for the rest of the day." He clapped his hand, signifying for Fuyuki to turn them in to him. But Fuyuki couldn't do anything about it.

Then something occurred to him. _Um… how did he know my name?_

Whether Kululu picked up on this or not, he showed no sign of it. He just continued doing whatever he was doing on that laptop. Typing in pages and pages of code, it seemed.

"Mr. Hinata. Are you listening to me?" Mr. Dororo walked up to his desk and rapped on it with his knuckles.

At last, Fuyuki found an opening to push forward. "I'm sorry, Mr. Dororo. That was the Demon King. Not me."

Mr. Dororo nodded. "I figured as much. I've been warned about you, you know."

 _Ah, so that's why_ , Fuyuki realized. "Here. I'll give you his laptop and headphones." However, Kululu gained control again, preventing him from doing so. He scooped his arms around his treasure and looked up at Mr. Dororo with a menacing look.

"Mine," he emphasized. "My laptop. I made it. How do y'all expect me to bring about a new age of technology if you won't even let me surf the 'net?"

Mr. Dororo placed his hands on his hips. "Your entertainment may be a potential distraction for our boy Fuyuki here. You know as well as anyone else that, as the host of the Demon King, it is imperative that he pay attention in class so he can learn more about our world's history!" He had a hint of a smug look on his face now, one that practically read, _I'm gooood._

Kululu muttered something under his breath. He was clearly displeased with this arrangement, and was likely irked that the first thing they always made him do during these resurrections was go to _school_.

"For instance," Mr. Dororo threw out, "I bet you didn't even _know_ that the Victory Festival is coming just next month, did you?"

"Victory Festival?" one of the students said. Several others made sounds of confusion.

Kululu just groaned. "Of all times for me to be resurrected…."

Fuyuki mentally had stars in his eyes. _I love the Victory Festival!_ he thought. _So much demon culture to see…. And I'll probably get to see my mom again, too!_

The Victory Festival was an annual celebration in which humans and demon-possessed teens alike got together and celebrated the great victory of the war 10,000 years ago that they shared with the demons under the Nishizawas' contract. Naturally, the Nishizawas hosted it every year. There were foods and vendors, small plays and acting troupes, music and art projects at work. The town pitched together to erect statues of angels holding boulders over their heads, to symbolize their crushing defeat during the war, and also the fact that they were literally crushed. But the most important aspect of the festival was how this was the one time each year that people with demons were able to interact with the rest of town. Normally, kids of the ages 14 to 16 were isolated and cut off from other people, children especially, for fear that demons would attempt to gain even younger hosts. But the Victory Festival was a time for everyone to celebrate, whether they had a demon in them or not.

"You should know," said Mr. Dororo, "everyone expects you two to produce _something_ for the Victory Festival."

Kululu scoffed.

"At least some sort of booth or…"

He cut him off."Really, ku ku ku! How much more demeaning are you trying to make this? Why do you think I would want to make a booth for _myself_?"

"Well, I actually meant the boy—"

He threw his hands up. "I ain't makin' no booth!"

Mr. Dororo sighed. "Whatever your decision, I am still making it an assignment for the class to create a booth to run during the festival. I understand that, as the Demon King yourself, you would feel uncomfortable participating. But you have to let Mr. Hinata pay attention in class!"

Kululu just slumped in his chair and crossed his arms. "I am the _Demon King_ ," he grumbled. "And I ain't makin' a booth for any dumb festival of yours, Whatever-the-heck-your-name-is. I don't take orders from people. Especially not from people nobody even knows." He looked up and glared at him.

"Very well. Mr. Hinata does not have to participate in the actual event."

 _What? No fair!_ Fuyuki thought. _Why does Kululu get to decide everything? Just because he's the king of all demons or whatever!_

"If it suits you…" A rather suspicious smile crept onto Mr. Dororo's face. "…we can even arrange for you to be _alone_ during the festival." He walked back to the front of the classroom, allowing the matter to drop. "Now, class. Onto today's lesson. In the year of…"

* * *

Fuyuki was flabbergasted. He couldn't understand why Kululu didn't want to participate in his own festival. Even more, he couldn't understand why the Demon King acted like such an immature little brat when he thought things weren't going to go his way. That part, at least, was somewhat compensating.

 _I can't believe I'm stuck with this guy for two years!_ he was thinking at lunch break. At that point he was the one in control, so he decided to sit next to Saburo—or rather Keroro—in a desperate attempt to mooch off of what could have been. As it happened to be, Momoka was sitting next to him, too.

"Sorry about this morning, Momoka." Fuyuki gave her an apologetic smile. "Kululu. You know?"

"I understand." She smiled back and then continued berating Keroro with random questions such as, "what's your family like?" and "what's your favorite book?" and "when's the last time you ate a parfait?"

"So… um…" Fuyuki cut in. "We haven't gotten a chance to talk much yet, but hi again. Can you tell me about your demon powers? How you, like, attract everyone to you? I think that's really cool! Let's talk." He flashed him a smile.

Keroro stared at him a moment, his expression slowly melting into that of pity. "Poor kid's got a Kululu in 'im." But he smiled anyway. "Well, if you insist on hearing about me, I'll talk. I've already been pouring out every detail of my life, anyway."

Momoka grinned.

 _She totally likes him,_ thought Fuyuki. He wasn't quite sure what his feelings were on that, and he tried not to think too hard about it. Suddenly he was reminded of his lingering fear from yesterday, how Kululu might try to make Momoka disappear. _Just don't think too hard about it and Kululu won't notice,_ he told himself. _Don't think about it…. Don't think about it…. Don't think about it…._

"ARG!" Fuyuki abruptly stood up, beating his head so as to not think about it. Didn't work, though. Momoka and Keroro were giving him odd looks now.

 _I just have to think about something else,_ he thought. _I know. I'll think about the Demon King's childishness. If I focus on how childish he is, then it'll seem unlikely that he'd make Momoka disappear._ Focusing rather deeply on that instead seemed to work, because there were plenty of amusing moments to look back on. Fuyuki took a deep breath and sat back down.

"I'm sorry. I was having technical troubles," he admitted. "Anyway, Keroro, can I ask you a question?"

"Um… sure?"

"So… why do you think there was a mix-up with our hosts?" Then he added, "I don't know about you, but I would have _loved_ to have YOU as my demon!"

"Oh, yeah, I can believe that," said Keroro with a nod. He squinted Saburo's eyes as he considered the question. "You know, I'm not quite sure why the mix-up happened. Sometimes mistakes just pop up. And it can't be helped. Well, anyway, what's over is over, and there's no going back now."

Fuyuki laughed. "Well, not for two years." Inwardly, the disappointment was immense. So there was no way to rectify this horrid happenstance, after all.

Keroro laughed as well, but his sounded more forced. "Oh. Yeah. Two years."

Momoka's eyes just turned sad as she turned away from both of them.

* * *

 _He would dare to think such thoughts of me?_

Kululu was appalled. Fuyuki's emotions surrounded him like a thick cloud of humility.

The boy thought he was a _joke_. He, the Demon King, a _joke_!

Apparently he thought he had been acting immature. But that was not Kululu's fault. That was simply because humans were starting to take him less seriously—piteous, mindless creatures as they were. Kululu had responded appropriately. Anyone would have done so in that manner.

 _Maybe I did lose my cool a bit_ , a part of him speculated. He pushed the thought down like a bad meal.

That night when Fuyuki went to bed, he stared up at the ceiling and confessed to Kululu, "I can feel your anger."

 _Wh-what? How can he—_

"If it's something I've done, I want to know." He clenched his fist. "After talking with Keroro today, I've realized something. I can't just spend these next two years in woe of what could have been. I have to live with what I have. But you know, that might not actually be as bad as I've been thinking it'd be."

When Kululu didn't respond, he continued talking.

"Ten thousand years ago, the Nishizawas made a contract with your kind. It was a contract of friendship between our two species. They weren't friends before then, but they made it work. They put all their differences aside for the greater good."

 _Well… no. Not really,_ thought Kululu. But he let the boy talk.

"So I was thinking, maybe we could put our differences aside, as well. I know I've been really distrusting of you, but I have my own reasons. I'm… a bit biased," he confessed. "Demons haven't been very good to my family. One killed my father…. Another made my sister disappear. My mom always told me that there are good demons, and there are bad demons, but…" He sniffled. "But she's not here right now."

 _Is he saying he wants us to be… friends?_ Kululu was shocked. _Gross. I hate fourteen-year-olds._ One thing Fuyuki said lingered in his head, however.

Inside Fuyuki's mind, a grin crossed Kululu's face. He figured out _exactly_ what he needed to do to reinstall fear in this human.

"Tell me more about your father, Fuyuki."

"Oh… um, I'd rather not."

"All right then." _At least now he's thinking about it._

* * *

That night, Fuyuki had the most vivid of dreams.

He was just six years old and perched on his father's knee, laying against his chest as his father read a storybook to him. It was late at night, with all the lights in the house off save for the one reading lamp that they were using.

Fuyuki stuck his thumb on one of the pictures in the book and looked up. "Whass behind the mountain, Daddy?"

" 'When Riku crossed the mountain,' " his father continued reading, " ' he was startled to see a vast array of monsters, too many to describe, too amazing for the mind to imagine. Cautiously lifting his bag of shells over his shoulder, Riku—' "

He stopped.

"Daddy?"

" 'Riku—' "

His father's eyes went dull, and all of a sudden, a different sort of light took them over. His father's lips curled into a smile.

"Ah, it's been too long, Haru."

"Daddy, what—"

Taking notice of the child on his knee, Haru turned to him. "You must be Aki's boy. How nice. Hello, I'm Haru's demon."

Fuyuki quickly became frightened. "Daddy, what—"

"I'm _not_ your daddy," the demon snapped at him. "Did your father ever tell you that he was a bad man, little boy? Did he ever tell you all his _shameful_ secrets?"

"Daddy…." Fuyuki began to cry. He was scared and didn't know what was going on. Haru never took on such a harsh tone with him.

"He never _told_ you how awful of a human he was? How so many people on this miserable planet would really be better off without him? Like that lovely mother of yours?"

Fuyuki began to sob very loudly now, awaking Natsumi and Aki, who came rushing down into the room.

"Haru, what's going on?" Aki demanded at once.

But Haru was hushing Fuyuki, cradling him softly in his arms. "There, there, Fuyuki. It was just a bad dream." He turned to Aki and mouthed the word, "Nightmare."

"Ah." She pressed her hand to her chest in relief, then took Natsumi back to bed.

But once the two of them were gone, Haru put Fuyuki back down and smiled. "Fools."

* * *

Haru's demon did not allow him one ounce of control even once. It turned everything around—ruining Haru's image at his workplace, with his friends, with his family. It put them all in danger on more than one occasion. Fuyuki could tell that his mother had figured out at some point that it was the work of a demon, though Natsumi still didn't quite understand.

Why did she let the demon stay? Fuyuki had often wondered. Deep down, he knew it was because Haru was somewhere deep down there still, and might come back at any time. Aki probably thought the same thing. That was why she held onto it so tightly.

But at some point, it was too much. She let go. That was the day when Haru, under the demon's command, had picked up Fuyuki, set him on Haru's lap, looked him right in the eye and told him straight, "I don't love you, Fuyuki. I never have."

That was when Aki pulled Fuyuki off, pulled Haru to his feet, looked him right in the eye and told him straight, "You are going to leave this house. Don't ever think of coming back."

So Haru left.

It was barely a week later when Fuyuki and Natsumi found their mother crying at the table with a letter in her hand. Natsumi eventually snagged the letter and sounded the words out for her brother.

"Dear everyone,

"I'm so sorry for all the trouble I've caused you. Never in a million years did I ever think my demon would return and possess me again.

"But I see now that, even though she has finally left me once more, this may happen again. I won't let her. There is only one way I can think of to ensure that you all are safe. Please, Aki, take care of Natsumi and Fuyuki for me. Tell them I love them very much and I always have. I shall never see you again, for instead I shall be adventuring with the creatures of the deep which I have always longed to study. Goodbye."

Fuyuki never was quite sure whether it was the demon or if it was his father who wrote the letter. All he knew was, a few days later when he was playing at the beach with Natsumi, they found the pair of shoes that used to belong to Haru.

* * *

 **So like, originally, Dororo was going to be going under the name Rallen Tando, which I thought was fuckin hilarious, but bc RKBW didn't get it she insisted on it getting changed. :( Joke's on her, though - she had to go through the entire document and individually change all those "Mr. Tando"s to "Mr. Dororo"s. It looks as if I still have the upper hand in this. Mua ha ha ha.**

 **-Scissors**


	5. Self-sacrifice

**Rainbowkittyblossomwings here! A very important author's note about this chapter:**

 **There is mentions of suicide in a very uncomfortable manner, by Kululu. He is very insensitive about the issue and I want to tell you that even though it is in this piece of writing, I do not condone any such thoughts on the matter as such. If you are suicidal it doesn't mean you are 'giving up' and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It is a sad unfortunate thing that happens from mental illness which is a disease and should be treated in the same way physical illness is. People should care about you and protect you from people who are like Kululu and say stuff like what is in this chapter.**

 **If you are feeling suicidal, I urge you to seek help and if you can't call a therapist or a crisis-line, call a friend. If you can't call a friend, you can even PM me if you need someone to vent to or talk to. I've been through it before too, and it's a horrible feeling to have. I care about all of you dearly.**

 **But anyway, I just wanted to say my real thoughts are not reflected by what Kululu thinks in this chapter and he's wrong and a jerk. If suicide triggers you, please skip the first part and probably the last part of this chapter. Just go to the line divider and skip it!**

 **And remember, feeling suicidal is never your fault. Never ever, ever.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **I hope you enjoy the chapter on that note. Sorry about that long rant.**

* * *

Fuyuki bolted upright in his bed in a cold sweat. His hands were shaking and clammy and his breathing was shallow from the vivid nightmare.

 _Wait..._ he thought as he clutched at his blankets, _Why am I in my bed? Doesn't Kululu usually take the opportunity to go around and do things while I'm asleep?_

There was no sign of him having moved around that night, besides tossing and turning in his bed. So then, if Kululu hadn't taken control, what had he been up to?

" _Ku, ku, ku, ku, ku!"_ The familiar evil laughter echoed throughout Fuyuki's head, a more ear-shattering wake up call than any alarm could have been. Fuyuki tried not to let out a choked-out, vomit-like sob from his dream. Instead he tried to focus on Kululu, knowing that the guy probably had something he needed or wanted to say.

Instead, he heard a popping sound in his head, as if Kululu was chewing on something. Could Kululu eat inside his head? He supposed since the mind was fueled by imagination, maybe he could. It couldn't refill any energy though, right?

" _Nice dream you had, kid. Real interesting. Made for quite the amusing movie. I loved the comedic end,"_ Kululu finally spoke up in between chewing.

"Movie? W-were... Were you watching my dream?!" Fuyuki was shocked. Could Kululu do that? That was like a huge invasion of privacy!

He didn't even attempt to keep control. Instead he decided to confront Kululu directly instead of having a conversation in his bed. Closing his eyes, he focused deeply on his inner subconsciousness, so he could appear before the Demon King.

"Yo. So you're here again. Ku, ku, ku." Kululu leaned back in a giant red armchair that he must have conjured up in Fuyuki's mind as he shoved popcorn into his mouth.

He had certainly made himself at home.

"Kululu." Fuyuki frowned, trying not to shake before the Demon King. "Wh-what's going on? Wh-why... Why did you see my dreams?"

"Ku," Kululu scoffed. "Your mind is pretty much an open book to me, kid. After all, it's 'home sweet home' to me now. And when I'm not in charge of the body, I can wander around as I please. Ku, ku, ku..."

"So... You didn't take over my body last night when I was sleeping?" Fuyuki was trying to process information and put things together of what was going on. He still was confused about the Demon King's power and the true amount of control he had over him.

"Yep! So I got to sit back and watch your dreams. And... I may have influenced your dreams quite a bit. As I said, your head is an open book... Any memory that I wish to see is mine for the taking. Anything you don't want to see again I can make you live through. I suppose you got to see _dear daddy's_ demise all over again. Your fault for not telling me about your father, and for trying to wave your pathetic friendship in my face. People don't just make friends with the Demon King. They either pledge their allegiance to him out of fear or they hate him. Simple as that, ku ku ku! There's no friendship in my life and having something like that is beneath me," Kululu explained. "It was an insult for you to offer."

Fuyuki's eyes widened in shock. "You... _You_ made me see that? You monster!"

"That's what I like to hear. Ku, ku, ku," Kululu grinned. This was much better than friendship.

"Why... Why did you do it? I just... I don't understand... Things were going so smoothly for us. I really wanted to be your friend. Why couldn't you have just accepted my friendship? It's going to be harder to live with me if you make things difficult!" he pointed out.

"Kid, all my hosts have hated me. I'm the Demon King - it's not very difficult to continue being in control of the body. Eventually the host gives up, and that's that." Kululu idly brushed off his hands.

Fuyuki would have felt a bit sorry for him, being so friendless, if he wasn't filled by such anger of having to relive such a traumatic moment in his life.

So he just glared at him. "You shouldn't have seen that. It was private." He continued sending a cold death glare to Kululu.

"Awww... Don't be like that, kid," Kululu teased, "Unless... You realize the meaning behind your father's actions. The secret that you've probably been too dumb to realize till now, or perhaps you knew but were denying it in your soul."

"Th-the... meaning?" Fuyuki didn't understand. Was Kululu about to console him about his father's suicide?

"The reason he died, Fuyuki. You know it, right? Or do I have to spell it out for ya?" Kululu asked, a glint of evil and anger in his eyes.

Fuyuki didn't know if he wanted to hear it. Kululu wasn't in a particularly friendly mood, and it looked as if he only wanted to make Fuyuki suffer.

"I... I don't think I want to hear your hypothesis."

Kululu continued talking anyway, brushing Fuyuki off. "He died because of you, Fuyuki. Obviously. It was your fault." He intertwined his fingers and slouched in his chair as he gazed at Fuyuki.

Fuyuki took a step back. "No, it wasn't! It was the demon! The demon made him do it! I had nothing to do with it! She probably murdered him and... and faked his suicide letter!" He felt himself screaming it. Why would it be his fault?

"You didn't take enough responsibility. Even as a dumb kid, you should have tried your hardest to help him. You had all the chances to help, to report the demon's return to the authorities, who would have taken that gal out due to it being illegal for demons to come back. But you didn't. You were the only one the demon directly talked to, Fuyuki. You were the only one who could have helped," Kululu told him, picking at all the closed-off wounds from Fuyuki's past.

Fuyuki hadn't realized he could have made a difference until Kululu said something, but now... now he realized he was right. And it just made him filled with sorrow and guilt.

"You had a chance. You had a responsibility. But you blew it. And now the mistake can never be fixed," Kululu told him, judging the boy as he looked down on him.

Kululu didn't even care about the kid's dad, but he looked filled with anger at Fuyuki's decision.

"You're wrong!" Fuyuki denied, "It wasn't my fault! He didn't die because of me! I... I was just a little kid back then! I had no responsibility. I didn't know I could help him!"

Kululu leaned back into his chair, a cold look on his face. "Oh," he spoke quietly. "Yes... I suppose you were quite young back then." He looked off to the side as if he had made a mistake.

It only took a mere second for him to recover and gaze back at Fuyuki with a malevolent look. "I suppose you can deny it was your fault for now. But eventually you'll have to own up to your decisions. You can't run from your mistakes forever, Fuyuki. Ku ku ku." The cold glare was back again, but it almost looked as if Kululu was looking through Fuyuki.

"After all, that's just the tip of the iceberg of the reason your father died." Kululu laughed again and Fuyuki felt his gut fill with dread. Still, he stood firm to the ground, ready to debunk all of Kululu's claims about how he must have indirectly caused his father's death.

"Your father was a weak, weak man. He was pathetic. Just giving up like that." Kululu said very cold words, cold unsympathetic words that Fuyuki hadn't expected, making him take another step back in horror. "If he had been smart enough, he would have realized that the authorities would have caught the demon and executed them. If he had stuck through it, he would have lived. But instead he just gave up."

Fuyuki's mouth hung open as Kululu kept on talking, absolutely revolted by what Kululu was saying. He stared at Kululu's face, which only seemed to show coldness at him, missing Kululu's balled up fists by his sides.

"If he had just put a little more thought into things... Stayed alive for a little longer, he might have figured out a way to live happily with the rest of you. But he jumped the gun. That's the most pathetic thing I can think of to do." Kululu didn't finish his comment with his trademark laugh, but instead continued giving Fuyuki an ice-cold glare.

"You shouldn't have said that," Fuyuki told him. "That's the most disgusting sentiment I've heard."

"Well, it's true. If he had stayed alive a little bit longer-"

"NOT EVERYONE IS AS SMART AS YOU ARE!" Fuyuki yelled, about to cry. "He wasn't like that. He wasn't a Demon King! He was human! Just like me! He wasn't as strong and smart as you are, but he was my dad and I loved him, anyway! So don't you dare say such insensitive things about him!" Fuyuki couldn't keep the tears bottled up. He started crying.

Kululu got up out of his chair. For a second Fuyuki wondered if he was about to hug him.

Instead he walked past him coldly.

"Cry while you're in here. There's absolutely nothing you can do against me. And just remember, if you cross the line I'm placing, I might have to replay another terrible memory for you. Want to see your mother reject you again? Or maybe we should learn more about that sister of yours? It could be anything. Ku, ku, ku. Do as I say and I might not make your life as miserable as it could be." Kululu then disappeared to take control of the body, as he rightfully believed he deserved.

Fuyuki just huddled into a ball and cried. He let himself do what Saburo had told him not to do. He let Kululu take full reins. Fighting him wouldn't do any good, anyway.

And... he wanted to mourn his father again. To apologize for all the mean things Kululu had said.

* * *

Kululu grinned as he strutted along the hallways, toward class for the morning.

 _I did it. I broke that Fuyuki kid. He shouldn't be giving me anymore trouble for, well... a long long time._ He smiled to himself. This was a new record - quickest host he'd broken yet!

Although he saw no point continuing schooling, he decided he might as well have fun with it for a day.

 _After all...That guy with the totally obvious demon name pretending not to be a demon might be fun to troll. Ku, ku, ku._

"Fuyuki! It's nice to see you!" Momoka greeted as she passed him in the hallway. Kululu turned his back to the girl.

 _Uh-oh. Don't want to interact with her. That might be bad for me._ So he gave her the cold shoulder and continued walking to class.

Momoka just tilted her head in confusion. That might have been Kululu instead of Fuyuki, but if it was, why hadn't he teased or insulted her, like he normally did? Was... Was it perhaps Fuyuki, after all? Was something wrong with him?

"He looks like he needs some cheering up! Don't worry, Fuyuki! I'll help you!" She clenched her fist. She was ready for anything.

* * *

Kululu mostly made little automated peashooters in class and played around with making everybody's lives miserable.

"Mr. Hinata, I'm afraid if you keep doing that I'll have to send you to the hall." Mr. Dororo crossed his arms and sighed. His history lesson going to waste.

It wasn't like anyone was listening to his lecture, though. And he had spent all night preparing it, too! Why didn't they notice him?

"Hey! Look at the cool headstand I can do!" Keroro yelled again, directing the class attention at himself instead of Mr. Dororo. Mr. Dororo tried not to cry.

 _But... this history lesson is the best ever! It's filled with rich detail and imagery and it doesn't keep details hidden away. It's not secretive, and it's not the bare minimum of course requirements, which they would have been getting if they had a different teacher!_ he cried again. These students didn't appreciate the effort he was putting in.

"I'm the Demon King. Not Fuyuki. Fuyuki Hinata's gone," Kululu corrected. "Now... can you please tell me your name again? Do you teach this class or something? Sorry, I forgot. Ku, ku, ku."

Mr. Dororo frowned in annoyance. "My name is Mr. Dororo. I'm your teacher, remember?" he asked.

"Hey, did anyone hear anything? Cuz I sure didn't!" Kululu yelled out. Keroro looked up.

"What were we supposed to be hearing?" Keroro looked around, his eyes resting on everyone in the room except Mr. Dororo. It was like he didn't even notice the guy was there.

Mr. Dororo cried in the corner of the classroom until the bell rang for lunch as the class ran wild.

* * *

"Hey, Fuyuki." Kululu tried to get Fuyuki's attention as he ate a sandwich alone in the garden around the school courtyard. He made sure to invent something to camouflage them to avoid Momoka, who was desperately searching for them. "Fuyukiiiiiiiiiiii!" Kululu called again, deciding to make his host's life even more miserable.

" _What is it?_ " Fuyuki asked, trying to hold back tears.

"Remember what happened to your father? His demon coming back and all?" Kululu asked.

" _Yeah...?_ " Fuyuki knew Kululu was probably about to make him even more miserable feeling, but at the same time he didn't know where the guy was going with this. Was he about to say something like "That was funny how his life was ruined" or was he going to say, "Just wanted to remind you about your dead dad"?

"If that Momoka chick's demon came back the same way that your father's did, I think it would be best to avoid her. I mean, you wouldn't want to be hurt the same way, right? It would probably destroy you. Ku, ku, ku. Although that would be pretty funny, I've decided I'll avoid that girl from now on. For once, I'm just looking out for your safety," he mocked in a fake sappy tone. "I'm such a nice guy."

" _What? But won't Momoka be hurt if we just start avoiding her out of nowhere!?_ " Fuyuki asked.

Kululu shrugged. "It can't be helped. Your mental safety is my primary concern."

" _But her demon won't come back! What happened to Dad was rare! You should know that, being the Demon King and all_ ," Fuyuki pointed out.

"Sure it was rare, but it could happen again. I just think it would be best if your wounds don't get reopened," said Kululu. "Ku, ku, ku. It _would_ be terribly funny to see that Momoka chick die to some demon who came back and possessed her, though... It would suit me just fine, too... The world would be without their Nishizawa heiress, but... how bad could that be?"

Before Kululu could take another bite of his meal, he was dragged into the vortex of blackness that was Fuyuki's mind.

"First off, you were the one who reopened my wounds," he reminded him, putting his finger upward to count Kululu's offenses. "Second, stop jabbing at my trauma! And third... never, _ever_ say it would be amusing to see Momoka go through the same thing that my dad went through." Fuyuki's face was boiling with anger and an aura of darkness that Kululu hadn't expected from him.

"Ku. I guess you must have had to use a lot of willpower to drag me back to this realm," he figured. He wasn't particularly mad; this was just something new he hadn't expected. And being thousands of years old as he was, he was very prepared to get some new amusement and see Fuyuki fight back so he could break him all over again.

Fuyuki moved forward as if he was about to punch Kululu in his anger. Kululu lifted up his arms to block and throw Fuyuki to the ground, but instead Fuyuki walked past him.

"It's my body. And I won't let you use it to avoid my friends. Sit here and think about what you've done, because I'm not going to give you back control for a good long time." Fuyuki's voice was filled with resentment as he took control of the body.

 _Ku. I expected him to be more spineless. Well, I suppose this is a new development. Interesting._

* * *

Fuyuki didn't keep calm. He held onto his anger. Natsumi had always said that he was a force to be reckoned with when he was angry, and he was determined to make Kululu back down from hurting him.

"Hello, Keroro!" Fuyuki walked over to Saburo's body, which was now having lunch. He was ready to implant his revenge plot, no matter how petty and childish it may have seemed.

"Hey, Fuyuki? Right, Fuyuki's in control now?" Keroro asked.

"Yep. I just wanted to talk to you about the Demon King, Kululu." Fuyuki sat down by his side. "Do you know him personally? Very well?"

"Well... I mean, he is the Demon King. He makes himself well-known. And I've had... the pleasure of interacting with him a few times before. He likes giving the most stupid orders, purposefully," Keroro said.

"I know! He's the most childish thing I've seen! And I've talked to a lot of children. He feels like a spoiled, over-grown child at times!" Fuyuki felt himself grin as he let every word sink into Kululu.

" _Hey, hey! That's a bit hypocritical, don't ya think? And a little low! I'm not childish. I'm the Demon King!_ " Kululu seemed to take a huge offense at Fuyuki's bait.

"He's always throwing a temper tantrum if things don't go his way," Fuyuki continued as Kululu screamed angrily in his head. "It's so tiring. He acts like such a spoiled baby."

"Yeah... that sounds like him," Keroro sighed. "I mean, I haven't seen him throw many of these temper tantrums that you're talking about, but he always wants things to go his way, and he's such a jerk about it. He'll change his mind all the time, just to be difficult!" He qas quite annoyed, having experienced this too many times first hand. "But the childish nature is probably because he's the Demon King. You know what they say - too much power corrupts!"

"But you agree about the childish part, right?"

Keroro looked awkward as he rubbed his cheek awkwardly. "Well... there's this one particular incident in the demon realm that comes to mind that makes me think 'childish.' He was giving everybody really jerkwady orders, and at that point we were too afraid of him to complain, so we kind of just went along with it. He got so mad and annoyed that nobody was yelling at him that he ordered someone to yell at and scold him. And then afterward, he tortured them for showing disrespect to the Demon King. What a childish thing to do, right?" Keroro laughed.

Fuyuki laughed too, although inside he was in shock that Kululu had done that. He really was a monster!

" _Hey! Unfair! He neglected to mention I really WAS a child back then! I mean, I'm still ashamed of how I used to act, but it's not like I still do those things..._ " Kululu sounded a little worried now.

It took more willpower not to laugh than to control the body.

* * *

Next thing Fuyuki did was dart back into class. The class was just starting to get into their seats and look expectantly at the front of the classroom, as if waiting for their teacher to arrive. Their teacher was already there, but none of them seemed to notice.

"It's me! I'm Fuyuki again!" Fuyuki announced, as if he was the main character in a story.

"That's very nice, Fuyuki. Really, it is," Mr. Dororo smiled. Fuyuki was one of the few students who noticed him.

"And I wanted to tell you all that, you know the victory festival? The one that I said I wouldn't celebrate because Kululu is a jerk and he likes to take fun away from EVERYTHING?" Fuyuki reminded the class. "I will be celebrating that! Because I'm not going to give my body back to Kululu!"

" _No. Fuck participation._ "

"Really? That's great! D-do... Do you maybe want to walk around with me?" Momoka asked, twiddling her fingers shyly.

"No, thank you," Fuyuki answered politely. "I want to participate as much as I possibly can! Want me to write an essay? I'd love to do that! Anything to tick off Kululu, cuz he doesn't want to help out at _all_!" At this point, he was basically declaring open war.

"What...? Why would you want to tick off the Demon King, Fuyuki? That's majorly dangerous!" Momoka tried to warn him.

"If he wants to make life miserable for me, he's going to have to realize that's a two-way street." He clenched his fist. "I won't be a pushover to him any longer."

"You really don't have to participate if you don't want to..." Dororo told him.

"And I want extra homework too!" Fuyuki told him. He would blast all his thoughts about classwork, and then get it wrong just to tick off Kululu.

The Demon King was going to pay.

Mr. Dororo thought for a moment. "All right, Fuyuki. If you so wish. I will put you down for working on a booth with the class for the festival. See me after class for some extra... homework." He paused for a moment to think. _That will work out fine._

"I am an enemy of the Demon King, now. Do not associate him with me any longer!" Fuyuki bellowed.

The entire class was concerned by his stupid decision-making.

" _Nobody challenges me to a war and wins, kid!_ "

"The angels might have been beaten by you, but I won't." Fuyuki responded in his mind, stubbornly. He wouldn't let Kululu win.

* * *

He walked throughout the halls, ready to go to Mr. Dororo's office to get his extra homework. Momoka saw him and darted forward before he entered. She threw herself onto him, trying to initiate a hug from behind.

"Fuyuki... I know it's the real you, but still... You seem so angry," she said. "And because of that, I'm worried about you... Declaring yourself an enemy of the Demon King won't end well. So please, calm down and think things through!" She hugged him tighter.

Fuyuki brushed her off. A hug wouldn't make up for the things Kululu did.

"I'll make my own choices from now on. Not Kululu, even though he is in my body. _I_ make my own choices. Not even you can make them for me," Fuyuki told her. "I'm not going to let go of my anger at him."

Momoka just watched him grumpily walk off. She felt weak, being unable to help him.

"I failed cheering him up, I suppose..." Momoka frowned.

" _Maybe a parfait will cheer you up?_ " a voice close to Momoka asked.

"I don't think even a parfait will help," she answered. "No parfait is big enough to heal Fuyuki's anger."

The voice gasped.

* * *

Fuyuki opened the door to Mr. Dororo's personal teaching quarters to pick up his extra homework. He felt Kululu trying to desperately push forward, to shift to being the one in control, so that he could probably be a jerk to Fuyuki's teacher. Fuyuki didn't let that happen. He kept calm and pushed him back.

"Hello," Fuyuki greeted. Mr. Dororo stopped sorting papers and looked up.

"Hello, Fuyuki," he returned. He was about to hand Fuyuki some papers, but he stopped for a moment. "You like learning, don't you, Fuyuki?"

Fuyuki nodded.

"Would you like me to give you an extra one-on-one lesson about society, then?" he offered. "I think out of all my students, you deserve to know."

Fuyuki's eyes gleamed. This was the information he had been waiting for! Secrets to be revealed, new and extra lessons to learn! He was so excited.

"Yes... You definitely deserve to know... about the authorities that take away the people who disrupt the peace." Mr. Dororo sounded regretful.

"What about them?" Fuyuki asked.

"Didn't you ever wonder what happened to the people who disrupt the peace?"

"They go to jail, right, like Mom did?" he guessed.

"She... being your mother, and since you host the Demon King, was a special case. But usually the authorities do... much more terrible things to people who break the rules of society. People who break the Nishizawa contract, demon or human alike, are executed, no questions asked. They... disturb the peace." Mr. Dororo looked grave.

Fuyuki took a step back. "They're executed? Just like that?" He was shocked.

" _Ku, ku, ku. But why is he telling you this? Don't tell me he's about to get into sappy backstory territory._ " Kululu sounded like he was mostly talking to himself. Fuyuki brushed this off.

"So... then... everyone I saw that was disturbing the peace... was killed? That's horrible!" Fuyuki was terrified.

"And that's not even the worst part... The people who execute them are assassins - demons, who hold the power to kill," he went on.

"Demons? But how? They're supposed to leave after a host turns sixteen! Or... are all the assassins fourteen-to-sixteen year olds?" Fuyuki was confused.

"Well..." Mr. Dororo scratched the back of his head, some more blood leaked from his forehead. He cleaned it up with a handkerchief. "It's complicated," he admitted after a moment of thinking vaguely. "These assassins stay on this plane, to watch and kill."

Fuyuki was about to open his mouth and utter another, "That's horrible!" But Dororo took off his top hat before he could speak.

To Fuyuki's surprise it didn't just cover Dororo's long and luscious pink hair. It hid away a pair of antlers - although _pair_ was pushing it a bit. One of them had snapped off halfway up, and the other one looked as if fungus was growing out of it, as if it was decaying. Fuyuki took a step back, having seen the horns of Kululu before, but being revolted by the sight of Dororo's. They just looked... wrong.

A bit of blood oozed out of the broken one, and Dororo cleaned it up again.

"I was once one of these assassins, before I gave up my immortality and chose to live on the human plane as a mortal," he confessed.

" _He gave up his immortality? That's laughable! Ku, ku, ku. That's the biggest disgrace and shame a demon can do, giving up their immortality and getting a human's life span. They can't even keep their cool demon powers!_

" _If I COULD feel pity, I might pity him, because he is totally pathetic. Becoming a demon on the human plane is suicide, because not only demons shun you, but humans do, too. Your decaying horns brand you as a fallen demon forever, and once they've completely fallen away into ashes, you're pretty much dead. And he's already lost one! His lifespan isn't going to be long at all! Ku, ku, ku._

" _Wonder why he's telling us all this, though. Pretty pathetic. I don't have all day to listen to his boring story._ "

"Y-you're... a demon?" Fuyuki was a bit scared. His teacher was a demon... or previously one. But... he seemed like one of the nice demons, even if he was a previous assassin. At least he was being upfront about it.

"Yes, I am. Or, I _was_. An assassin, too. I killed more people than I can count. It was a terrible terrible thing," Mr. Dororo told him. "I had years and years of service. Only the most cold-blooded would be able to go through what I went through. But I wasn't me back then. I was only a killing machine. Zeroro was the name I used to go by. I was a monster. These days, my name is Dororo."

Fuyuki put his hand on Dororo's shoulder. "But you're different now. You've given up all that. And for what it matters, I think you're a pretty okay guy." He tried to be kind.

"Oh, sweet child... Please forgive me for what I'm about to do." Dororo looked sadly at him as he took out the sword hanging on his back. He pointed his blade at Fuyuki.

"I... I wanted to explain myself to you... Maybe to atone for what I am about to do... You will be my last kill, I promise. I will never kill again. I will live with nature on this planet for my remaining years," Dororo mumbled to mostly himself.

"W-wait... What's going on...?" Fuyuki stepped back, seeing Dororo's blade.

"The Demon King is evil, Fuyuki. I should know, I worked for him for years, killing on his command. He must be stopped. At all costs." And with that mantra, Dororo darted forward, like lightning, extending his blade.

Fuyuki ran wildly to the side, trying to dodge, but having no experience in an actual battle.

"AHHHHH!" he screamed. He tried to push a desk aside, but his arms were too weak and he instead tried rushing out into the hallway.

Dororo darted after him.

 _He's... He's trying to kill me! Mr. Dororo is trying to kill me!_ Fuyuki thought, wheezing from over excursion as he tried running through an empty hall. His mind was filled with fear.

" _Ku, ku, ku. Amusing. Do you want to turn things over to me? Or, I suppose I could just relax here while you get attacked. I think right now I'll choose relaxing. I mean, you DO need the Demon King's help, but wasn't it YOU who didn't want me to have the body?_ " Kululu teased.

"Not even on death's door will I give you my body again," Fuyuki hissed to Kululu. He would rather die. His anger still remained stronger than his fear.

" _That might prove to be a problem for you, then. Ku, ku, ku. I'll just wait and see how this plays out,_ " Kululu laughed.

Fuyuki continued wildly running, wishing he had the strength to push over something to falter Dororo. But Dororo seemed much faster than him. He could easily appear before him when he used to be behind him.

"I'm sorry." Dororo plunged his blade forward, toward Fuyuki's gut.

Fuyuki's eyes widened and he did the only thing he could think of - he threw a paperclip from his pocket at Dororo's delicate, broken horn. Dororo dropped his sword for a moment as the paperclip quickly reopened his wound and the antler started bleeding again.

Fuyuki turned around and ran toward his classroom, hoping to hide since he couldn't outrun him.

 _I got lucky... But that trick won't work again,_ Fuyuki realized. He tried to steady his breathing. He was really out of shape, and even this much running for his life was too much.

" _You're clearly out-matched, kid_ ," Kululu spoke. " _Your body is over-exerted. At this rate you're going to die. Dororo may be a weakling mortal, but you're still weaker than him. Hand the body over to me._ "

"Not until you take back what you said about Dad," Fuyuki responded, sticking to his principles.

" _You're going to die at this rate._ " Kululu's voice sounded calm, as if he just saw Fuyuki's decisions as one of a rash child. _"Look, to be honest, I know Zeroro, and hiding won't do any good. He probably already knows where you are. He's an expert assassin. I should know! I sent him to kill all sorts of people I didn't like."_

Fuyuki kept silent, hiding under a desk.

"I'm sorry," Dororo's voice spoke again. "But thank you for attacking me back. It makes me feel like you at least put up somewhat of a fight... It's better than an innocent kill." Dororo was already in the room.

He had moved faster than Fuyuki knew was possible. Or perhaps he was just more stealthy than Fuyuki observed.

" _Give me the body,_ " Kululu requested again. Fuyuki refused.

Dororo moved forward to slice down into the desk Fuyuki was hiding under.

"HELP!" Fuyuki screamed loudly, hoping that someone would hear him. He knew he was over-exerted. He could barely flee to the next desk over to avoid Dororo's swing, so his only chance of life would be to rely on someone else.

He could only prey that someone was near the classroom.

"Who needs my help?" To his happiness, Keroro walked in looking ready to help out. Fuyuki could have cried tears of happiness, if he knew it was too soon to be celebrating.

Dororo dropped his sword. "Um..." He tried to awkwardly cover his antlers with his hands. "Nobody needs help... I was just... Cleaning up the classroom," he lied.

Keroro noticed the Fuyuki hiding underneath a desk. "Rehearsing for a play or something? Is that why you screamed?"

"He's trying to kill me!" Fuyuki accused. Dororo looked ashamed. He tried to blend in with the background.

"In the play he's trying to kill you? Well, interesting idea! I'll be excited to see it," Keroro smiled, about to leave.

"DON'T LEAVE! PLEASE! I NEED YOU! This guy is a demon!" Fuyuki cried.

Keroro looked up and down at Dororo. "I'm pretty popular in the demon realm. I think I'd recognize if this guy was a demon."

Dororo stopped covering his antlers to wipe off the tears on his face.

"Keroro! I'm Zeroro! We've known each other since childhood! How can you say that?" he cried, eventually giving up pretending to be stealthy.

Keroro squinted his eyes for a moment, confused. "Did I ever have a friend named Zeroro?"

"Yes! You, Giroro, and me played together all the time! Don't you remember?"

Keroro thought for a full minute as Fuyuki tried to crawl out of the room while he thought Dororo was occupied. Dororo kept blocking the door, and trying to slice at his hands when he got close.

There was no other exit. Every time Fuyuki would get near a window, Dororo would block that too.

"OH! I did have a friend named Zeroro!" Keroro finally remembered, smiling. "That must be you!"

"I go by Dororo now, though," Dororo smiled, glad Keroro finally remembered him. He suddenly looked frightened, realizing that Keroro was probably going to make fun of him for giving up his immortality.

Keroro didn't seem to realize that Dororo was mortal. "Well, I guess you're busy with Fuyuki. I should probably leave and let you finish your business. After you're done, come visit me! It's been ages since we've last talked!"

"Keroro... We talked right before you were going to take your new host..." Dororo reminded him.

"I don't remember that." Keroro shrugged. "Well, anyway. Have fun, Dororo! And Fuyuki!" He waved.

"WAIT! COME BACK!" Fuyuki yelled, knowing that was his only chance to live.

" _Well, your plan failed. My turn._ " Fuyuki could feel Kululu push at his mind harder than he had ever pushed before. Fuyuki felt like he was about to lose consciousness. " _Oh, come on. I'm going to have to put you asleep, I suppose. Ku, ku, ku. Fine by me. I don't care."_

"No, wait, stop!" Fuyuki begged Kululu, "As long as I keep my willpower strong you can't take over..."

" _Ku, ku, ku. I'm the Demon King. In times like these when you're being a big bratty baby, I'll just have to put you asleep. I mean, you might not wake up for a while, but that's fine by me... Unless you want to hand the body over and let me use my powers to beat this guy. Come on, Fuyuki, this bratty temper tantrum against me has gone on long enough. You're literally going to die for your pride right now,_ " Kululu told him.

Fuyuki could already feel blackness enter his eyes. He tried to struggle free, but his hand was already moving on its own, pushing himself up to face Dororo. His legs were shaky, but Kululu just about had them, too.

"Saburo... Please, help me..." he begged, trying to direct his help at Saburo instead of Keroro. Saburo was there too, after all, and he knew Saburo was strong enough to help him out.

"Saburo's not very active, Fuyuki," Keroro reminded him briefly before he left the room.

"Saburo! Wasn't it you who said it was easier to black out than to take control? I thought you were going to be a hero... That you were stronger than this... Please. You know this guy is really trying to kill me. Help me, Saburo," Fuyuki begged. "I need you."

He hoped he reached Saburo's ears.

* * *

Saburo watched the same flashback in his mind play over and over again. The flashback of the day his life was ruined.

The day the Demon King returned, but not inside him.

"Let's do this!" Saburo had said, smiling to the temple priests. He had prepared his whole life for this. He was ready.

Pricking his finger with a needle to put some blood in the summoning circle, he stood forward. It had taken years to memorize the sacred texts and speeches he needed to say to keep this ceremonial, but Saburo knew most of the stuff was bologna and just there for tradition.

"I am ready," he finally said, after finishing reading many long lists of text. "Come, Demon King, Kululu!"

The many priests anxiously awaited the air growing cold.

Saburo closed his eyes. _The important things will be to initiate contact with him, and then read his body language and personality immediately to see how I can get the upper hand over him. He may be all-powerful, and I may only have my wits, but if I try hard enough, perhaps I can outsmart him or make him underestimate me._

 _I need to play Kululu. I need to make sure that I constantly have the upper hand and that there are no surprises._ It was just like playing chess. He needed to make sure he won, for everybody's sake.

This was a game of chess that everything was bet on.

And he was ready for it.

Saburo felt the otherworldly force grab onto his back and push inside of him.

 _Gotcha!_ Saburo thought as he knelt down in the demon-summoning circle. He closed his eyes and focused teleporting himself to his subconsciousness to greet his demon.

"Hi!" The demon waved, standing in front of Saburo and smiling. His smile seemed suave and commanding.

 _Well, I honestly didn't expect him to be this nice-sounding. I had heard he was quite dislikable... But maybe he's putting up a false front._ Saburo looked the demon up and down. He had short trimmed hair with a headband on to keep it out of his eyes. Older clothing from ages past decorated his body, although it seemed to have some parts of it that had a newer style to add a flair. He was dressed quite fashionably.

 _Definitely as egotistical as I heard about though,_ Saburo thought to himself. It looked like he liked wearing star patterns and the color green. His hair was black, along with his eyes. His horns weren't nearly as impressive as Saburo had expected for the Demon King, but who was he to judge? They looked big and generic, like a Yaks'.

The demon seemed to be looking Saburo up and down, too, quite intently.

"So... You're Fuyuki, right? I heard I was getting a Fuyuki." He outstretched his hand.

Saburo's smile fell. "N-no... My name is Saburo. Didn't you know I was Saburo? Or were you too busy ruling your kingdom to get the correct name of your host?"

"My kingdom?" the demon asked, then laughed. "What? Do you think I'm king or something? Nah, I'm just a normal demon! What a silly kid you are. My name is Keroro!"

Saburo's eyes widened in shock as his smile broke. "B-but... I was supposed to get the Demon King... I'm the hero of the world. I was... I was supposed to get him and save everybody..."

Keroro looked awkward. "Uhh... I guess there was a mistake then? B-better tell the priests about that... Um... If it makes you feel any better, you're lucky _not_ to have that guy. I'm cooler."

But Saburo had given up that day.

* * *

"I need you!"

The words were something Saburo hadn't heard since he had declared his life officially over. His eyes widened as he looked through his own eyes to see what Keroro was seeing.

Fuyuki was clearly in danger, and begging for his help. And Keroro was way too stupid to give it.

Saburo easily took control. He wasn't about to let Fuyuki die. Dororo swung his sword down, and Saburo grabbed a book, darting forward to block the attack.

"I assume you're Saburo, right?" Dororo asked.

"Yeah. And I don't take well to people hurting my friends," he frowned. "You'll find me a lot tougher than Fuyuki. As the original host of the Demon King, I had to go through a lot of physical training to keep in shape."

"I won't kill you, not with Keroro in there," Dororo vowed, stepping back. "I will, however, fight you." He bowed to his opponent respectfully, ready to duel, but as he bowed, Saburo just hit his head with the book, not caring about manners.

Dororo's head started bleeding.

"Th-that... That wasn't respectful at all!" Dororo cried.

"I know it was a cheap move. What can I say? I was trained to take on Kululu, not you. And I'd advise you to leave, if you want to live. I know about your horns being your weakness. When they're gone, you die. I'm not above killing you to protect my friend," Saburo told him. He held his book in his hand. "So you want to duel? Or are you too scared?" He had an air of confidence around him that Fuyuki hadn't seen since the mix up.

Dororo backed away. "I'll be back, Fuyuki. For now, though... I'll leave." He left to go bandage up his antlers.

Saburo turned to Fuyuki once Dororo was gone and smiled. Fuyuki ran up to him and hugged him. "You saved me, Saburo!" he told him, "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I owe you so much!"

"Aww... It's no big deal, Fuyuki. Really." Saburo replied bashfully, happy that he could finally make a difference.

"You may not be the hero of the world, but you'll always be my hero!" Fuyuki smiled up at him, looking at him for a long time. "I never noticed before, but you have really pretty hair... So nice and white..."

Saburo looked dumbfounded at Fuyuki for a moment and blushed at the comment.

"And by 'always be my hero,' I mean always _my_ personal hero." Fuyuki winked at him almost flirtatiously.

Saburo's mouth hung open.

"KU, KU, KU!" Suddenly a laugh came from Fuyuki's mouth. "That expression on your face is more interesting than that entire fight with Zeroro!"

Saburo was shocked. "K-Kululu? How long have you been here?"

"Eh, ever since Fuyuki called for your help. I took control easily after that. I am the Demon King, after all. Thought I might as well watch and pretend I needed help, though." Kululu inspected Fuyuki's fingernails.

Saburo made a grossed-out expression at Kululu pretending to flirt with him as Fuyuki.

"Wait... If you could have taken control anytime, why didn't you take control when Fuyuki was in danger?" he asked.

"That would be no fun." Kululu shrugged. "Anyway, I should go. I need to take myself off of that list of participating in that stupid festival."

He left Saburo alone on his own, and although he was slightly disgusted, Saburo also smiled.

 _Fuyuki helped knock a little bit of sense into me. It was nice to be myself again, but now I should probably rest... If he needs me, I'll be there, though._

 _And he might need me a lot. After all... Fuyuki has a long road ahead of him._

* * *

Fuyuki eventually awoke in his mind.

"Y-you... took control of me anyway? But... But my willpower and anger were so strong... How..." Fuyuki asked.

"I'm the Demon King. A kid's anger can't stop me. I take control when I want. Nothing can stop that. Ku, ku, ku," Kululu laughed. "So if you're trying to hurt me, or declare war on me, you're going to lose. But nice try. Oh wait, not really. KU, KU, KU!"

Fuyuki stood shocked for a moment. Was there really nothing he could do against this guy? Finally, he realized that there was something he could do.

Something that he would definitely win at.

He didn't answer Kululu and instead looked disinterested. Not trying to gain control of the body, nor trying to do anything. Instead he summoned up his own batch of mind-popcorn and began re-reading a good book he had read in his past.

"Wh-what... What are you doing, kid?" Kululu asked.

Fuyuki didn't pay attention to him. He had more important things to do than play war with the Demon King.

"Trying to ignore me? Well, that's not going to work!" Kululu disappeared to take control of the body, and probably make everybody's lives miserable. He put curry powder in everybody's food in the cafeteria, put dye in shampoo, trashed Fuyuki's dorm room, but nothing he would do would get a response from Fuyuki.

Fuyuki slowly could tell he was distressed, just like Keroro's story had told him. Kululu enjoyed being a jerk because it made him feel powerful. But if nobody was paying attention to him being a jerk, it didn't mean anything, and he couldn't seem to get a reaction out of Fuyuki.

Fuyuki was giving him the silent treatment as punishment, and it was totally working.

After a few days of Kululu making everybody's lives miserable, but not getting a reaction out of Fuyuki, he finally returned to Fuyuki's mind.

"Stop this! It's not amusing!" Kululu ordered.

Fuyuki just kept reading his books. "Wow! I didn't know that being in my own mind was so much fun! So much more interesting than anything _outside_."

Kululu frowned. "You not fighting for control isn't any fun at all... Come on..." He was like a pet trying to play with his owner, desperately begging for attention.

Fuyuki just kept reading and smiling.

"Ugh. You're still mad about that dad of yours, right? I should have known you were one of those weird _family_ types." Kululu frowned, not knowing what to say. He wasn't very good with apologies, and he didn't want to say it, even if he was bored out of his mind without Fuyuki. "That... demon who possessed Haru would have died painfully if they were caught. It's extremely illegal... It won't happen again, probably... Well, the possessing part at least. Still shouldn't interact with any demons if they came back just for fun, though. I've... never heard of that happening since it's also illegal, but there is... a loophole, but... Oh, what am I saying..." Kululu ran his hands through his hair. "Ignore that. Anyway, I... I might have exaggerated a little bit in what I said..."

"Exaggerated? About what?" Fuyuki asked.

"That... his death was because he gave up," Kululu confessed, finally sitting down. "You see... demons are extremely vulnerable in the human realm, as you saw with Dororo, and this is the same when a demon takes a human host. If you kill the demon's human host, the demon dies with them... which was actually the reason Dororo was trying to kill you. Not because he wanted to kill you, but to get to me, since the only place I'm vulnerable is in this realm," he explained.

"So, wait, the reason you were trying to make sure I didn't die was because you were worried about yourself?" Fuyuki was shocked, but expectant of this.

"Ku, ku, ku, you got it. We die together during your... time of possession. So don't die, okay?" Kululu told him. "But anyway, your father probably knew this, so he probably killed himself to kill the demon. He... He probably cared about you a lot. It wasn't your fault he died; he just wanted to make sure they were dead and didn't escape because he didn't want them getting to you and hurting you."

Fuyuki felt tears fall down his cheeks. He didn't know when his father had died that he had been protecting his children. His father must have loved him very much.

"S-sacrifice... is different than giving up. If someone loves you so much that they sacrifice themselves just so you can live, you have to live with that sacrifice forever and make the best of it. It can be hard, but you have to remember... th-that your life is somewhat the symbol of their love. In a sense," Kululu told him.

Fuyuki waited for Kululu to ruin the mood by saying something like "what a sappy sentiment" or taking back what he just said. But Kululu said nothing. It sounded weirdly out-of-character for him to be so advising and sentimental.

Kululu seemed quiet, though and looking far off to the distance. Fuyuki didn't know if it was the right thing to do at the time, but Kululu seemed almost wistful, so Fuyuki grabbed the cuff of his sleeve and gave it a tug of support and smiled at him.

"I forgive you," he said to him. "I'll talk to you again."

"Ku, ku, ku. Good, cuz it was getting boring without you. Who else am I supposed to tease? All your memories I can access with a single flick of my fingers, after all! I hope there are some dirty ones. _Those_ would be way more funny to expose," he mocked, quickly getting back to his old self.

Fuyuki frowned, but also blushed. This was annoying, but slowly becoming part of his normal life.

 _Friendship takes time to work. I just can't offer it on an olive branch. Maybe... Maybe I'll attempt again, but more slow this time._ After all, there were parts of Kululu that weren't all bad. It was just that they were buried deep and were very dusty from not being used.

He knew he could try, though. When everything was said and done, he _had_ gotten Kululu to take back the mean things he said, and wasn't that something pretty hard on its own?

Fuyuki found himself having confidence about the future.

He could do this.

He just had to deal with the assassin after the two of them and the jerky king who desperately wanted to be a jerk instead of a friend.

* * *

 **Please review. Really. I'd like to hear your thoughts.**


	6. Expendable Appendages

**Sorry if it's a little inconsistent. Also I need to stay away from cliches.**

 **Guest reviewer: RKBW and I talk about this all the time, bc we are immature, but no, demons dont have to go through puberty along with their host, because that means that they would be going through puberty like 24,601 times in their life. Basically a lot. And that is cruel. Puberty is the worst. Worse than war or natural disasters.**

 **-Scissors**

* * *

The next day in class, as Fuyuki listened to Dororo's latest history lecture, a thought occurred to him. After the whole Dororo-wants-to-kill-the-Demon-King incident, and after Kululu's desperate play for attention, it all became clear to him what he had to do.

If he wanted Dororo off his back and not trying to assassinate him anymore, he just had to prove to him that Kululu _wasn't_ as much of an evil monster as Dororo thought he was. Of course, then he would actually have to _make_ Kululu not an evil monster. And that would certainly be a difficult task, given all the immoral things that Kululu had done to him in the past few days.

Fuyuki was sure Kululu had a soft side. Just thinking back on all the small _good_ things he had done, it was obvious. For example, well…. It was obvious.

He smacked his head against the desk. This would be a lot harder than he thought it would be.

Instead of trying to think about unattainable fantasies, Fuyuki tried to pay more attention to Dororo's lecture. It was something along the lines of the history of computers.

"Which were also invented by the Demon King, as it happens to be," Dororo was saying. He shot a nervous glance toward Fuyuki at the back of the room. "Anyway, back when computers were invented, people couldn't really see much of a use for them. Today, however, computers are used heavily, primarily in the respect of communication. Now, can anyone tell me about the importance of communication?"

There was no answer. No one else had been paying attention except for Fuyuki. With a sigh, Dororo called on some kid. "Can _you_ tell me the importance of communication?"

"Me?" He pointed at himself. "Uh… to learn things?" he attempted.

"Correct!" Dororo smiled. "Well… somewhat correct. It was a good try. You're all very, very good students," he said to the class of students who weren't listening. "Communication takes the place of travel. It—"

A light bulb went off in Fuyuki's head. He raised his hand. "Mr. Assassin, why can't we travel?"

" _Ku ku ku! Subtle!_ " Kululu told him.

Dororo's face flushed. "I… it…."

A few of the kids flipped out. "Assassin? Where?"

"Oh, just the teacher," Fuyuki said quite casually. "Who also happens to be a DEMON!"

Silence in the room. Dororo sweated. And bled. He wiped the blood off. Then he wiped the sweat off. The silence grew louder.

Then it was broken when a couple of kids looked up at the front of the room and scratched their heads. "Who?"

"Dororo!"

"Who's Dororo?"

Fuyuki pointed to Dororo.

"No, Fuyuki. That's _Mr_. Dororo. There's a difference."

With great sadness, Fuyuki lowered his finger.

Dororo cleared his throat. "Anyway. That is actually a very good question, Mr. Hinata, who I am definitely _not_ trying to assassinate!" He slipped him a bit of a glare, as if to enunciate, _That was low!_ "The reason that we cannot travel is because there are monsters outside."

"There's a monster in _me_ ," Fuyuki said defiantly. He could sense Kululu grinning.

"Well… that's a _different_ kind of monster," Dororo explained.

"What's so bad about the monsters outside, then?"

"Um… you see… nobody's researched them. And it's not just monsters. It's earthquakes, and hurricanes, and tsunamis—"

"Cool!" Fuyuki exclaimed. He had stars in his eyes. "Did you ever see any monsters or natural disasters when you were out assassinating people, Mr. Demon?"

"Uh…." Dororo wiped some sweat and blood off his brow again. "Class dismissed for the day."

It wasn't like anyone had been paying attention to what Fuyuki had been saying, anyway.

Fuyuki went straight to his dorm and began packing his bags. "Oh boy! I can't wait to learn about the outside world!"

" _Wait… kid… you're not really going to go out there, right?_ " Kululu asked him. " _That's a stupid move. You're not supposed to die, remember? 'Cause you've got me here!_ "

"Right. But you want to know more about the world, too, right?"

" _I've lived here for thousands of years! What else do I need to know?_ "

"Aw," Fuyuki complained. "But you must know how insufficient our databases are."

" _Perhaps…._ "

"And you ARE here to bring about an era of new technology."

" _I suppose you might have a point_."

"So… why not start with the outside world? And being a scientist—"

" _I'm an inventor_."

"Oh. And being an inventor, you could probably invent something that can instantly document monsters, right?" he tried.

" _Well. Not to brag, but I'm sure I could come up with something,_ " Kululu decided. " _I just need that fan off the wall, that plastic container, and a pane of glass._ "

Fuyuki smiled. He knew he could count on Kululu to show off. _Oh, god_ , he realized. _I'm becoming almost as manipulative as him. He's rubbing off on me!_ This thought beat in his head as Kululu made the device. _What if, after these two years,_ I _become the complete brat and Kululu is no longer a jerk? I don't want to be a brat! I've never been a brat before! What would Mom say?_

"She'd probably call you a brat," Kululu responded.

" _Whaaaaat? How could you hear my thoughts?_ " Fuyuki asked.

"Ku ku ku. You've been blasting them for the last thirty minutes," he told him. "And I only finished in fifteen." He held up his device. "I call it the Capturer."

" _What does it do?_ "

"It takes photos of monsters," he explained. "Videos, too. I even connected it to your weird alien blog so you can transfer them right over. Kind of like a visual journal."

" _Oh no! You found my blog?_ "

"Yeah." Kululu chuckled. "It was pretty lame."

Fuyuki groaned.

"Ku. Well, anyway, guess it's time to bring this world to a new age of technology." He stood up. "Where do you want to die first?"

" _At the forest_ ," Fuyuki decided. Then he paused. " _Wait, I'm not going to die!_ "

"Ku ku ku. Of course you are!"

" _They're just MONSTERS! And natural disasters!_ "

"And tell me, have you lived through either of those?"

" _I've lived through you._ "

"Ku. Ouch. All right, then. Let's go make the best of the rest of our hours here on this planet."

Fuyuki just rolled his eyes. It wasn't like Kululu couldn't defend himself against a few monsters. He was the Demon King! He was supposed to be one of the most powerful forces in the world! …Right?

* * *

Getting out of town was the hard part. There were gates everywhere—and where there weren't gates, there were authorities stationed all around the outskirts of town. For a few minutes, Fuyuki contemplated what they could do to sneak by, until Kululu took control of the body and plowed right past them. "Demon King here. Gotta take a dump out in the forest. Thank ya very much." Though they did look confused, they parted quickly to let him past.

There were several plots of farmland that they had to cross to get to the forest, but eventually they made it. Little did they know, however, that they were being followed.

Kululu was still in control as they were going through the trees, and he tossed away the overhanging vines with much disgust. "Yuck. Almost forgot how disgusting nature is. Hey, why don't you document nature? Nature's a monster, right?"

" _Ha ha, very funny_ ," Fuyuki said. " _Wait—What's that? I think I saw something move over there! Look a little to the left._ "

"Squirrel," Kululu dismissed. "Very fearsome. Here, why don't you do the walking now." He let Fuyuki have control, because he was growing tired of getting smacked in the head by so many branches.

"I'm still surprised that you're so easygoing about all this," Fuyuki admitted to him as he trudged along. "You haven't thrown a fit all day."

" _Thrown a fit? That's your thing!_ "

"What?" Fuyuki frowned. "When did it become my thing?"

" _The other day_ ," he told him. " _When you got angry at me and started shouting things in class about getting extra homework. Signing yourself back up for that lame Victory Festival_."

"That wasn't a fit," Fuyuki insisted. "It was retribution."

" _It was a fit_." Then, with a sigh, Kululu added, " _I've done a lot of thinking over the last few days. After seeing you lose your temper, I must confess that I have a problem, myself. And you were right, Fuyuki. I do have the tendency to lose my cool when things don't go my way. And so I have decided that, being the much older one here, I will set an example for you._ "

Fuyuki nodded, pretending to agree. Good luck with that, he thought.

" _Seriously. Ku ku ku! You went as far as almost letting yourself get killed. I haven't_ ever _done anything_ that _stupid._ " Kululu thought a moment. " _All right, so maybe it_ was _our similarities that was getting to me. But I have decided nevertheless that I am done with my unbecoming behavior. It is time to turn a new leaf._ "

"That's good," Fuyuki agreed. He had started to think that Kululu was becoming a bad influence on him. So it was good that he was trying to act more responsible for once. But how long would it last? That was the real question.

After a bit more walking, Fuyuki started to get a little disappointed. "I'm still not seeing any monsters," he told Kululu. "No natural disasters either."

" _Let's get out of the forest, then_ ," Kululu said.

"All right. Where do I go?"

" _Just keep walking forward. Ku ku ku. You should come upon a meadow_."

Fuyuki walked forward for a while. He could see the sun through the trees, and so he followed the sun until he reached the end.

"We made it, Kululu!" he cheered, crashing through the branches. "We—"

He stood in front of a beach.

" _Well my directions suck_ ," Kululu apologized. " _Honest mistake_."

"It's… It's been forever since I've been to the beach," Fuyuki muttered.

" _Um… why is that?_ " Kululu asked. " _Oh, right. The_ —" He paused, considered something, and then decided not to mention the shoes.

Surprisingly, Fuyuki didn't seem bothered. Instead he laid down on the sand and kicked his shoes off. "Ahh, it feels so nice."

" _Eww! Stop that, Fuyuki, you're getting sand in your hair!_ " Kululu exclaimed. " _I am not going to be the one to wash that out._ "

Fuyuki quickly sat up and walked toward the water line, where he reached into the waves. He dug through the sand for a second then brought something out. It couldn't have been for more than a second that he looked at it until he made a sound of disgust and tossed it back into the sea.

" _Um… that wasn't what I thought it was, was it?_ " Kululu dared to ask.

Fuyuki wiped his hands off on his shorts. "I thought it was a cool-looking tree branch, okay? I promise! Or…. Or maybe some monster bone!"

" _Ku ku ku…. You know what that means_." Kululu smirked at the boy's reaction. " _Our friend Dororo was probably here_."

"Wait… you're saying… that was Dororo's horn?" Fuyuki's mouth was hanging open.

" _Yup. Looked like it was rotting, too. Poor guy thought chopping off his horns could make him blend in with the humans_." He smirked. " _Only the best can be blessed with such small horns as mine_."

Fuyuki gave a laugh, still wiping off his hands. "What's so good about small horns?"

" _All demons pride themselves on the size of their horns_ ," said Kululu.

"Wait… so Dororo wasn't a powerful demon?"

" _Ku ku ku. Powerful! Of course not. The larger a demon's horns are, the more their mobility is hindered. Basically, if your horns are big enough for someone to grab onto, then you're a loser,_ " he explained.

Fuyuki didn't come all the way out there to learn more about demons, but he figured he wasn't going to learn this kind of stuff in class, so he continued listening anyway.

" _Mine, being slick and close to my head, show that I'm one of the more powerful demons_." Kululu's horns, Fuyuki recalled, were curly and seemed to cover his ears. Kululu grinned a little. " _Nearly_ no one _has been able to take hold of_ my _horns_."

Fuyuki thought about this. "What does that me—"

Before he could finish his sentence, everything was drenched with darkness. The sun above them had been blocked out. Glancing up, Fuyuki was shocked to see the enormous mouth of a monster who was leaping out from the water. And it was headed toward him.

"AAAH!" he screamed. "What do I do? What do I do? Oh, gosh darn it! Where did I put the Capturer?" He shoveled around in his pockets.

" _Kid, look out!_ " Kululu tried to warn him.

All of a sudden, the monster released a squeal of pain. Fuyuki looked around and his eyes settled on Momoka, of all people, who was beating the thing away from him, her hair spiked.

"DON'T—YOU—DARE—ATTACK—FUYUKI!" she barked at it.

" _Ooh… this is bad…._ " Kululu muttered.

At last, Momoka pounded the monster back into the water and it swam far away in fright. She wiped a bit of sweat off her brow and turned to Fuyuki. "Ah. There you go! Are you all right, Fuyuki?"

He gaped.

"Oh! Ah—um—I was just in the area," she lied. "I—I mean… I suppose I perhaps caught you sneaking away and assumed that you were going out to research monsters…. And I tried to follow you to… ask if I could join! Yeah! Since the Nishizawas have lots of equipment for you to use to research monsters."

As she spoke, Fuyuki walked past her. He looked forlornly out to sea. "I didn't even get a picture." His expression melted into one of anger, and he turned to Momoka. "We don't need you here, kid."

"You—what?" She quickly understood. "Oh. I see. You're Kululu now, aren't you?"

Kululu nodded. "Your Nishizawa equipment is crummy."

"But… you designed it."

"A millennium ago! It's _way_ out of date," he said. "Besides, we don't have time for you right now, anyway."

Momoka looked irritated now. "I come out all this way for Fuyuki and _you_ have to—"

Kululu held his hand up to stop her. He thought for a moment, then pointed somewhere off in the bushes. "Seems you weren't the only ones following us. Come out, Dororo."

At first, there was nothing. And then, Dororo came out.

Kululu wanted to do a fist pump. _Yess! I knew it_.

"What do you have to say for yourself?!" he demanded.

"Mr. Dororo? With antlers?" Momoka was so confused. "What's go—"

"Ugh. Not now, kid." Kululu brushed her off.

" _What? Dororo was following us?_ " said Fuyuki. " _I had no idea! How did YOU know, Kululu?_ "

"Um… demon stuff," he mentally returned.

In front of them, Dororo unsheathed his sword. "I must admit, I am quite impressed," he spoke. "At least I have you alone again now. Well… almost alone." He glanced at Momoka. "Forgive me, Miss Nishizawa." He threw some sort of paper bomb on the ground. Kululu brought up Fuyuki's hand to stop himself from breathing in the smoke, but Momoka was not so lucky. When the smoke cleared, she was lying on the ground.

Fuyuki unknowingly took control in his shock and rushed to her. "Momoka!"

"She is just unconscious," Dororo explained. "Pay no attention to her. Now… uh… grab that stick, please! I don't want to kill you while you're defenseless."

Fuyuki didn't want to be killed at all. But he grabbed the stick anyway, because it was at least a worthwhile suggestion.

"No, not you!" Dororo said to him. "Bring me Kululu. I don't want to fight you as a child anymore!"

" _Tell Dororo I don't feel like fighting,_ " said Kululu.

"Kululu… doesn't feel like fighting?" said Fuyuki.

" _And that you can fight in my place_."

"And I can fight in—Hey wait! No I won't," he protested. He let himself be sucked into his subconscious, giving Kululu no choice but to take control.

"Drat," he said, as if the whole thing was bothersome. "Oh well. Let's get this over with, Dororo. Just let me build a weapon first."

"That's completely fair," Dororo agreed.

Kululu picked up some scrap metal and beach glass and quickly pieced together a decent-looking sort of gun using the stick. He aimed it at Dororo and shot some sort of light ray at him, but Dororo deflected the beam using his sword. "I'm a trained assassin," he reminded him. "You'll have to do better than that."

"You know I'm no good at fighting," said Kululu. But when Dororo charged at him and the blade just barely missed Fuyuki's nose, he had other thoughts. "I suppose… I might have to use my demon powers." He touched his hands to his ears, and a great amount of electricity began sparking from his head. The whole beach area was lit up.

Dororo's eyes widened, though he looked rather flattered. "So you've finally decided to take me seriously."

"Well… yeah."

He whipped out some sort of compartmentalized device. "But your electricity won't be enough, Kululu! I know too much about your abilities." He hit the tree branch just above Kululu with the device, and it expanded into a net that swooped down and enveloped Kululu completely. He tried to fry himself out using his electrical zaps, but it didn't seem to work. "It's resistant to your demon powers," Dororo explained.

He narrowed his eyes. _Finally… I have caught the Demon King. And how easy it was! I knew this plan with the boy would work._

" _Kululu, what are we going to do?_ " Fuyuki asked in terror. " _He's going to kill us!_ "

"Yes, I suppose he will," Kululu agreed. "I suppose he will."

* * *

"King? More like dictator!"

Zeroro stormed out of the castle, irritated once again by the orders he'd received from the Demon King. He'd just _left_ the human world! His hosting had ended. And things in the human world were not going so well—people were starting to become more aware of the things that were going on. They were growing suspicious. During his latest session in the human world, Zeroro had assassinated an estimated 500 people. After that host's life had ended, he had made a firm decision to himself: He would not do this any longer. His days of standing amongst piles and piles of bodies that used to belong to sensible, curious, foolish people were over.

Zeroro ripped off the stylized arm band he wore and threw it on the ground. "I quit this horrid job!"

As it happened to be, his friend Giroro was in the vicinity, and promptly rushed up to him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Zeroro, what do you think you're doing?"

"Quitting my horrid job!"

"Your job of being an assassin? You can't do that!" he told him, his pointy tooth flashing in anger. "Think about all the lives you're endangering. Think about the contract."

Zeroro looked up at him in fury. "Do you _know_ what it feels like to—to end the lives of so many innocent people?"

"Of course I do, Zeroro!" Giroro didn't understand what he was trying to say. "I fought in the war, too. Nobody likes to kill. But it's your job. And it's an honor to the demons."

"I just…. I can't do this anymore." He fought back tears. "You're all using me."

"We are _not_ —"

"Kululu's using me!"

Giroro shrugged. "Can believe that," he muttered. "But the rest of us aren't."

"You _all_ are!" Zeroro yelled. "Nobody wants this job. That's why they gave it to me! But I don't want it either. Nobody should have to have it."

"Zeroro, look at me," said Giroro. Zeroro looked at him. He gave him an intimidating glare. "Be reasonable. You're a demon. We don't have a choice in this."

Zeroro tore eye contact from him. "Maybe…. Seeing as it's the only way out of this…." He nodded. "Maybe I don't _want_ to be a demon any longer."

"You—what?" Giroro was taken aback. "You want to give up your immortality? But— who in their right mind would even _do_ that! That's probably the most shameful thing a demon could do!" He put his hand on Zeroro's shoulder. "Look, you've said a lot of stupid things in the past, but this is by far the stupidest! Think this through!"

"See if I care anymore," said Zeroro coldly. He brushed off Giroro's hand and walked off.

* * *

Zeroro himself had been quite shocked at what he said in his outburst. Give up his immortality? He was a demon! And he always would be. At the same time, however, the thought of taking another host body revolted him. He thought he really could give up his life of killing, once and for all. But… being a demon… you could never truly escape that.

 _Oh, who am I kidding?_ he thought. Giroro was still probably right. This was a foolish thought to have. Zeroro stuffed it down.

The thought didn't stay stuffed down for long. It lingered. It festered. As he walked through the looming, discolored forests of the demon realm, it nipped at him. _Mortality._ He would be just like a human. What would that be like? No more killing, no more lies, no more distrust…. No more following orders from Kululu, certainly. That was probably the biggest plus of them all.

He sat by the Hosting Stream and watched as Keroro, Giroro, and many others continuously hosted and returned. Hosted and returned. Hosted and returned. Even though time passed much quicker in the demon realm, it seemed like an endless cycle. Zeroro knew that giving up his immortality would be easy. All he would have to do was leap into the Hosting Stream when there were no available hosts on the other side. Hosts had specific schedules, and usually had specific demon requests, so everyone always knew whether a host was available or not. Then, when he came out of the stream, he would awaken in the human realm into his own demon body, not the body of another. He would not have any of his demon abilities, but was that really that much of a sacrifice?

At one point, he was so lost in thought that he barely noticed Keroro standing by his side.

"Another host?" he guessed with a sigh.

Keroro nodded, then gave a thumbs-up. "They told me I'll like the kid I'm getting. Fuyuki Hinata. Heard he's really sweet. Sweet, but nerdy. Not that strong, though, so I might have to make him exercise a little." Zeroro nodded sadly. "Feel sorry for the other host, though. He's getting _Kululu_. At least they've prepared him for it, though."

Kululu. Zeroro clenched his fists. All his problems always came down to Kululu. The contract, the possessions, the assassinations….

All of a sudden, he had an idea. "Wait a second, Keroro. Kululu's getting a host?"

"Unfortunately!"

So it had been a thousand years already, then. Zeroro touched his chin. He grinned as he took something out from his sleeve. "Do you know where our dear king is right now?"

"Um… he's going to be arriving just a bit further upstream from us, I think." As Keroro spoke, Zeroro covertly tied a paper strip to the back of Keroro's collar.

"Well, you better get going." Zeroro gave him an encouraging push, and Keroro, giving him a smile in return, leapt into the fast-rushing, watery void.

A small explosion sounded as the device on Keroro's back detonated. Zeroro winced, feeling bad. But hopefully, this should mess things up for them. Whoever this Fuyuki Hinata was, he'd be getting quite the surprise when the wrong demon came to him. Now he just needed to implement the second part of his sudden plan: Getting to the human plane. He certainly wasn't going to use another human host.

 _I suppose this would be the best time to give up my immortality,_ he thought with a touch of grief. _The others wouldn't be proud of me, but… I just need to do this one last job. For the greater good of everybody._ He took one last look at the demon realm and leapt into the Host Stream.

* * *

When Zeroro reached consciousness, he was nowhere near any hosting temples. Instead, he was in a forest.

 _Well, this is quite unfortunate_ , he thought glumly as he sat up. Then he paused. Something was definitely breathing on him.

Zeroro peered upward. Sure enough, there was a forest monster, towering directly above him.

"AHH!" he yelled. He pointed his hands at the thing, in the hope of using his demon powers to defend himself, but nothing happened. Being mortal now as he was, he had given up his demon powers. "Um… I'm not tasty?" he tried to convince the beast.

The monster opened its mouth.

"AAH—"

"Ha!" From out of the trees, a knife came speedily toward the monster attacking Zeroro and hit him right in the eye. It fell over, in pain but not attacking Zeroro any longer.

"Are you all right?" A girl dropped down from her hiding place from the trees and squatted next to Zeroro. "That thing could have eaten you! Usually with those kind of monsters, you just have to get all in their face and roar at them. I wasn't close enough for a good roar, though, so I had to kill it instead." She stuck out her hand to help him up. "I'm Koyuki."

"Zeroro." He accepted her hand. "Thanks for saving me."

"No problem!" She flashed him a smile. "Do you live in the town?" Her eyes darted up to his antlers. "Or…."

"Wait, where are we?" Zeroro asked in a panic. "We're not in the town?"

"Nope," said Koyuki. "This is Dororo forest. The nearest town is _miles_ away!"

Zeroro thunked his head against a tree. "Sorry for troubling you, but do you happen to have a place to stay for the night?"

"Umm…." She twiddled her fingers. "I have a shrine."

"An entire shrine?!"

"Yup. I stay there with Zeroyasha." She snapped her fingers. "Come out, Zeroyasha!" A large dog revealed himself from the bushes. Once he saw Zeroro, he started barking wildly. Koyuki looked at Zeroro apologetically and pulled the dog back. "Sorry. Must be the horns."

Zeroro touched his antlers briefly and wondered if Koyuki knew that he was a demon. Nevertheless, he followed her to her shrine, and was shocked when they got there.

"It's an angel shrine!" he gasped.

"Yup!" Koyuki gleefully swung around one of the posts. "My parents sent me here when I was very young to take care of it and keep it in perfect condition for the angels."

"The angels… are dead," Zeroro reminded her. Koyuki was silent on that note, contemplating it. She didn't come up with a response.

By sunset, Zeroro still hadn't come up with a plan to assassinate Kululu. Moreover, he still had the shrine on his mind.

"But they were evil," he muttered into the flames of Koyuki's hearth that she had started up. "Who would dedicate a shrine to them?"

"Evil?" Koyuki frowned. Zeroyasha started barking at him again. "We don't think they're evil. They simply fought for what's right. They looked at things from a bigger perspective, is all."

It honestly terrified Zeroro how she sided with their morals. He had met the angels and fought them and he knew that they had killed thousands.

"You know what's _really_ freaky, though…" Koyuki leaned back, staring at the ceiling of the hut in back of the shrine that they were in. "…demons." Zeroro jolted slightly. "They possess children!"

"Yes…." Zeroro placed his face in his hands. "Yes, you're completely right." He stood up. "Koyuki, thank you so much for your hospitality. But there's something I must confess."

"Yeah?"

"I'm…" He took a breath. "I mean, I was… a demon."

She looked at him in silence for a moment, and then asked, "What do you mean, ' _was_ a demon?' "

"I gave up my immortality just before arriving into this forest," he explained. "I didn't agree with the way we demons did things. It was wrong. You must know that, since you look like you're old enough to have been a host already."

Koyuki bit her lip. "Actually… I've never had a host."

"What? Really?"

"Yes. Well, the rest of my village thinks I'm dead. So I've never been possessed."

Zeroro gave her a soft smile. "You are very fortunate. But you cannot let anyone else know, or they will probably have you go through the process…. It is a dangerous one."

She nodded, silent for a bit. "So you really are a demon?" she finally asked.

"Yes." He sighed. "I'm sorry if that troubles you. If you need me to leave—"

"No—it's okay." She touched his arm, making him sit back down. "You can stay in the shrine. But you must be respectful of the angels, even if you are a demon."

Zeroro placed his hand on hers and gave her another smile.

* * *

A few days later, after getting up his strength in the forest, Zeroro decided that he was ready to take on Kululu. As he looked down at his reflection in a lake, however, he realized there was just one problem.

The antlers. They would completely give him away.

"I can't walk amongst humans with these," he decided. "I'll have to fix this at once."

Taking one of Koyuki's knives, he began to saw at one of his antlers. He winced. It was a lot more painful than he had expected. His breathing grew heavy as he sawed further in. Finally, with a great _snap_ , the entire thing came off.

Blood gushed everywhere. Zeroro saw it first before he felt it. And the pain was immense.

 _What's going on?_ he wondered as everything around him turned black.

* * *

When he awoke, his head was in Koyuki's lap, and she was applying medicine to his stump.

"You really should have been more careful, Zeroro." She shook her head at him. "I heard that demons' horns are the source of their life force. You could have killed yourself."

"I… ah… I wasn't thinking clearly," Zeroro breathed. He closed his eyes as he lay on her lap.

"What were you cutting them off _for_ , anyway?" she wondered.

"I…" He thought a moment about what words to choose. "…have to meet someone in town. An old friend." He couldn't bear to tell her that he was going to assassinate someone. She would most certainly hate him. "I'm sorry for not telling you earlier."

"No! That's completely fine." She smiled at him, though the smile looked somewhat forced. "I'll prepare some things for you for the journey. I'm sad that you can't stay longer, though."

He frowned and sat up. "Honestly, I feel the same," he told her. "You are truly unlike any of the demons. You're very kindhearted and… and very nice to talk to. I'm very lucky to be here."

"Of course, Zeroro!" she said.

"Please… call me Dororo," he asked. "I want to remember the name of this forest. All of its memories. Even though I wasn't here for very long and I think your dog kind of hates me."

She gave a nervous laugh. Zeroyasha growled disapprovingly.

After they prepared Dororo's things for the trip, and after he discarded his severed antler off into the sea, he was ready to go off on the journey.

"I hope this isn't the end," he said to her.

She smiled. "Of course not, Dororo. You can always come back to the shrine when you're done meeting your friend!"

"That's wonderful to know." He exchanged a hug with her. "I cannot thank you enough for all your help, Koyuki."

"It's okay. You don't have to. 'Cause we're friends now, too!"

"Aww…" He wiped a tear from his eye. "I'msorryIthinkIhavetogonow!"

"All right then. See ya later!" She waved bye to him.

As Dororo turned his back, he swallowed the guilt for what he was about to do. Would he really be able to kill another innocent child? Even if it was for a good cause in the end? He wasn't sure.

All he knew was that he couldn't let the Demon King ever get to Koyuki.

* * *

"And now to just think," said Dororo as he stood by the beach, "that I considered getting rid of you would be difficult!" He raised his arms in the air, turning away from Kululu in the net. "Finally, I'll be able to do what pretty much every demon has longed to do! For so many years!"

Dororo was so caught up in thinking about the past that he didn't even notice Kululu using a piece of sea glass to tear through the net at first.

When he finally did realize it, he felt both shocked and betrayed. "Hey, you can't do that!" he exclaimed.

"Sorry," Kululu said as he fell down onto the sand. "I'll put it back." He tried to throw the net back onto the tree branches.

"I—I had you trapped!" Dororo put his hand on his head, trying to process this. "How can this be happening?"

Kululu shrugged. "Hey, as long as you're going back to the school—you are going back to the school, right? Good.—can you take that Nishizawa kid with you? Fuyuki'd _kill_ me if I just left her here."

Fuyuki couldn't believe what he was hearing. " _You would just leave her here?_ "

"No! I can't give up now!" Dororo sheathed his sword again. "This is the perfect chance! My only shot!" He took a swing Kululu.

" _Kululu, watch out!_ " Fuyuki warned him.

However, Kululu nor the body he was in had a very good reaction time, and so instead of falling he sort of just fell over onto the sand.

"Wait!" Fuyuki took control now. He looked Dororo in the eyes. "It's me. Fuyuki. Can I just say something?"

"Okay."

"Don't kill me, please."

Dororo put down his sword. "I have many qualms about killing you as Fuyuki. But I still must do this."

"I know you hate Kululu and all, but…" Fuyuki bit his lip. "He's not all badness and dislikability. He's done some good things."

Dororo cocked an eyebrow, allowing him to go on.

"He agreed to go researching monsters with me today, for example," he threw out.

" _What are you doing kid?_ " Kululu demanded.

"I'm trying to make him lose his motivation to kill you!" Fuyuki mentally told him. "Do you want to be assassinated or not? 'Cause I don't!"

"So… what? You want me to give him a second chance?" Dororo guessed. Fuyuki nodded. With a sigh, Dororo conceded. His plan for today hadn't worked, anyway. "Very well. I suppose I shall put off his execution for another day. But don't owe it to Kululu—I just feel really bad about killing another child."

"Good enough for me." Fuyuki gave him a thumbs-up. "Now I just have to carry Momoka back to the school." He went to her and tried to lift her up. Unfortunately, he had forgotten to take into an account that he was a pathetic weakling.

Dororo sighed again, bent down, and lifted her over his shoulder. She had been innocent in this, so he didn't see anything wrong with taking her back. Fuyuki smiled at him as thanks.

"Thanks, Dororo," he said. "And I'm sorry that Kululu's ruined your life. But he's taking a turn for the better, I promise."

" _I'm not taking a turn for the better_ ," Kululu insisted.

"Yes, you are," Fuyuki told him, "if you value your life."

* * *

If wasn't even like Dororo posed a threat. But the kid did have a point, Kululu knew. Too many people wanted to kill him. And as the mature one of the two, it was his responsibility to do something about it.

First, of course, he had to handle something else. That night, while Fuyuki slept, he took control of the body, made his way down to Momoka's mansionesque dorm room, opened her door, and peered around the room.

"Hey. You," he whisper-called when he saw that the coast was clear. "Wake up."

Momoka stretched and awoke with a groan. She was delighted to see Fuyuki in her room. Then she realized it was Kululu and frowned. "What do _you_ want?"

Kululu looked to both sides, then told her, "Look. You don't know I'm here, all right? And you're not going to say anything."

Her expression was dumbfounded for only a moment. "This about Tamama?"

Kululu quickly added, "I'll put in a good word about you for Fuyuki. Maybe allow you to smooch a little, even." He shuddered slightly. "Maybe."

"Oh. Okay then." Momoka smiled at him and then sent him out of her room. She snuggled back into bed with thoughts of kissing Fuyuki in her mind. Those thoughts quickly vanished, however, as she realized how little time he had left. His demon _was_ the Demon King himself, after all.


	7. Siblings

**Alright, another skid with uncomfortable territory. There is mentions of sex and incest in this chapter, so avoid that if it makes you uncomfortable. (Basically Amyoflove skip those parts. -Scissors)**

 **Sorry it's so long.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **(Also another note from Scissors) Do not trust this writer. She is evil. Her last chapter was 9,000 words. Before that it was 8,000. What will happen next? Will I live to see that day? I'm her editor. I don't know how long I can last. Send help**

* * *

Fuyuki's veins filled with something more powerful in his mind than blood - determination.

He had to prove Kululu was a good guy. For his life and his own.

But how to prove the Demon King himself, who had caused the suffering of so many, was someone that Dororo shouldn't kill... that was beyond him.

It was a harder task than it sounded, because Kululu barely did anything nice. Fuyuki needed solid evidence that Kululu was good.

 _Maybe I could get Kululu to participate in the Victory Festival... Help the class make a booth or something. Maybe that would appeal to Dororo, since the victory festival is fun for all. I mean, the demons did help us win the war..._ Fuyuki thought to himself. That might prove itself as solid evidence.

" _Fat chance, kid. I ain't celebrating that dumb festival if my life depended on it. I've never celebrated before and I'll never celebrate it in the future._ " Kululu seemed to hear his thoughts, as he immediately shot the idea down, causing Fuyuki to go back to square one.

Fuyuki's smile faltered for a moment at the sheer rejection. That one seemed to not be an option. Not an option at all.

 _What... could I try to get Kululu to do that would give solid evidence of his niceness?_ Fuyuki thought. He also needed something that he would be willing to put effort into doing with Kululu, and put his heart and soul on the line of getting him into it.

In mere seconds an idea came to him - a selfish idea that although would prove Kululu's kindness served for as something that Fuyuki wanted.

It was an idea nonetheless, though.

Fuyuki smiled, knowing it was the perfect thing to pursue, and with Kululu's intelligence he was probably the only one who knew the answers Fuyuki sought.

Kululu was probably the only one who could help him find out what happened to his sister, Natsumi.

"Hey, Kululu..." Fuyuki trailed off, considering what tactic to use. "How much power does the Demon King have? Are you really that powerful? Do you have lots of power over the other demons, too?"

" _I'm extremely powerful_ ," Kululu bragged. " _There's nothing about me that doesn't scream power, and that includes my hold over the other demons. Ku, ku, ku._ "

Fuyuki smiled. _Perfect,_ he thought. "Wow! That's so cool! You sound so strong!" Fuyuki tried to compliment him. "I bet you know everything there is to know about every demon around!"

" _Course I do_ ," Kululu answered. " _Never know when you'll need blackmail of every single one of your subjects. Ku, ku, ku._ "

Fuyuki tried not to grin from ear to ear. This was going perfectly! Kululu probably did have the knowledge to find Natsumi.

"So... if I asked you where a demon was...would you have enough power to figure out? I bet you would!" Fuyuki flattered him again.

" _Ku, ku, ku. Course. I know where all my subjects are, unless they're mortal like Dororo or dead. If they're on the human plane in a host body it's easy enough to locate them, but I need to know their name_."

Fuyuki's smile faltered. He didn't know the name of the demon his sister had hosted. He didn't know anything about Natsumi's demon.

"I-if... If I gave you the name of the host, would you be able to find out the name of the demon?" Fuyuki asked.

" _Ku, probably. I am the smartest of guys, after all._ "

Fuyuki felt his hope rise again. "Would you be able to find out who my sister's demon is?" He prayed that his request wouldn't be denied. "Her name is Natsumi Hinata."

" _Ku, ku, ku, why don't you know the name of your own sister's demon?"_ Kululu asked. _"Didn't you at least meet them during that lame Victory Festival? Or did she ditch you and spend time with other friends at that lame thing?"_

"Uhhhh..." Fuyuki bit the bottom of his lip. "Natsumi... got banned for life from all Victory Festivals..." he admitted.

" _WHAT?!_ " Fuyuki heard Kululu yell in his mind out of surprise. It was the loudest he had ever heard him raise his voice. " _Lucky! What did she do to get banned? I've been trying to get banned for years, but every year everybody still is desperate to get the Demon King to celebrate. Even in the stupid demon realm. Ku, every other day of the year they hate me, but during that one day they worship me."_

"She... uh... beat up too many teenage boys during the festivals," Fuyuki admitted. "When she was younger, like around five or six, she would go around picking fights. She was a force to be reckoned with. She told me that she liked to beat up cocky boys who thought they could pick on the disadvantaged, but I suppose after a while she just started beating on whoever would fight her just for fun... She ruined one festival in town one year when she fought every single guy and won. They banned her shortly after that. So... that's why I haven't seen her in nearly two years."

" _Ku, ku, ku! How amusing! If I had known, I'd be kicked out for starting fights..._ " Kululu trailed off.

"Please don't," Fuyuki begged. Kululu made a groan of disappointment.

" _Wait a second... Why do you want to find your sister? Ku ku ku. When I first started possessing your body, the priests told me your sister was deceased,_ " Kululu reminded him.

Fuyuki frowned. That had been the first time they had used a different word for Natsumi's condition. "I don't know if she's dead," he said. "Everybody I've talked to... Mom, the authorities... Everybody, they've just used the word 'gone' to describe what happened to her. What does that mean? Is she dead? Missing? Where did she go? I... I really want to find out... She's my family."

Kululu listened to Fuyuki's words. " _Ku... So that's the situation... I have a guess, then, as to what happened to your sister... The most plausible explanation at least_..."

"What? What happened to sis?" Fuyuki asked.

Kululu was silent. " _It's not important,_ " he finally told him, clamping up, wrapping his guess in secrecy. " _It's just a theory. Anyway, who even cares where your sister is? Siblings suck. You don't want her back. They aren't that great. You're better off without them._ "

Fuyuki frowned. It had almost sounded like Kululu was interested in talking about his sister's condition a few moments ago, but then he had clamped up and gone off on a tangent about how evil family was.

" _Even if your sister turned out to miraculously be alive, she might be different than what you remember. A different person entirely, having changed from your time apart._ "

"Doesn't matter," Fuyuki brushed off. "She's still my sister and that will never change."

" _Ku, and remember what happened with your mother?_ " Kululu reminded him. " _How she rejected you just because I was inside you? I bet that would be the same thing that would happen with your sister. Do you really think your mental state can take another family member rejecting you like that? Family always abandons you. They pretend like they care and you might think they care, but they're always looking out for themselves instead of you. As soon as you aren't useful to them they throw you away._ "

Fuyuki's lip quivered. The wound from Aki still hurt, and he was honestly scared that Natsumi would do the same, but still... that was better than her mysteriously being gone.

"I bet you're only saying that because you can't figure out where she is," Fuyuki spoke up firmly, challenging Kululu. He knew that Kululu always took the bait when it came to challenges. "Maybe you're not as strong as I was led to believe..." Manipulation would have to work on Kululu over appeal. He obviously wouldn't do it out of the goodness of his heart. All that mattered was that Fuyuki had to make it look like Kululu was doing it out of goodness.

" _Ku? Not as strong as you thought? You've got that wrong. I could easily confirm my theories about your sister and find where she is and who her demon was, I'm just warning you ahead of time that she'll hate you for hosting me,_ " Kululu said to him.

"Then prove you can find her. Because it honestly sounds like you're trying to tell me all these things so you don't have to do it. Because you can't!" Fuyuki accused.

" _Oh? Are you trying to challenge me? Prepare to be proved wrong! As I said before, I have power and knowledge about all the demons, so be prepared to eat your words! Ku, ku, ku!_ " Kululu took the bait and agreed to look into it.

Fuyuki was filled with happiness.

* * *

Not only was Fuyuki filled with a few bliss-filled days of Kululu not trying to gain control of his body due to Kululu researching, but he knew his sister would be found soon. Soon enough, Kululu finally spoke to Fuyuki again.

" _Ku. I was wrong,_ " Kululu admitted. Fuyuki was surprised. It was rare for Kululu to admit he was wrong about something unless he wanted to take someone else's pride down with him.

"You couldn't find out who her demon was?"

" _Nah, I found that out. I just was wrong about my theory about what happened to your sister. That's all. Honestly a little surprised, ku, ku, ku._ "

Fuyuki smiled. "So... where is she?"

" _I don't know,_ " he told him. " _Weirdly enough, her demon went missing too. So it couldn't be what I thought happened._ " He paused. " _The authorities... Your Mom... They were all telling the truth about her. She's gone. Nothing more, nothing less. It's as simple as that, yet still such a mystery_."

Fuyuki frowned. "But... But she can't just simply be gone!"

" _She probably got eaten by a monster. Knowing her nature from what you've told me, she was probably as stupid as you and left town to pick some fights. Then she got eaten and that's why I can't locate her demon, and nobody can find her body,_ " Kululu explained.

Fuyuki kept his mouth closed, even though the words Kululu spoke stung him and made him frightened. He didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to think about how Natsumi was probably dead.

Because although he hated to admit it, it _did_ sound a lot like her leaving town to pick fights with dangerous monsters.

"W-was... Was it hard to find out who her demon was?" Fuyuki asked, gripping a table to steady himself. He needed to change the subject from his sister's death.

" _Surprisingly enough, it turned out that her demon also caused quite a stir in the demon realm when he went missing. It's a boring little thing, though, so you probably don't want to hear about it._ "

"I do! I do!" Fuyuki insisted. He liked hearing about the demon realm and he wanted to know as much as possible about his sister's condition. Quickly, he felt himself being pulled into his own mind, to see Kululu. "Why am I in this realm again?" he asked.

"Easier to tell you the story here about how I did amazing Demon King things," Kululu told him, flicking his pinky for a second to show him a 2D moving image of Kululu sitting in a throne.

"What's that?" Fuyuki asked.

"Some memories of mine that I wanted to show you. I'm very fond of ruining people's lives, and so I thought I'd share one moment with you where I ruined someone's life - Not your sister's demon, don't worry. Kuuu, ku, ku." Kululu let out a particularly sadistic laugh.

Fuyuki was intrigued by seeing Kululu's memories and that Kululu could willingly show him some stuff from demon realm, but also frightened that the reason Kululu wanted to share was because he enjoyed ruining someone's life.

How sadistic could one guy be?

Fuyuki looked at the image and saw that Kululu wasn't alone, and to his side was a dark-skinned demon with big pointy horns and black hair. He wore a visor that almost looked like just colorful glasses.

"Who's that?" Fuyuki asked.

"The brother of the demon who inhabited Natsumi. My adviser," Kululu told him.

Fuyuki looked confused. "I didn't know you had an adviser."

"Ku, ku, ku! That's because I only use him as an errand boy! He advised me when I was a young Demon King, and he advised the Demon King before me. But once I realized how annoying, boring, and strict he was, I demoted him to errand boy. He's adviser in name only!" Kululu laughed. "He doesn't like me very much. I'm very proud."

Fuyuki frowned. This wasn't something to be proud about. He turned to the screen to watch the scene between Kululu and his adviser unfold.

"Please... I know you don't usually help people when they beg, but please... Let me take a host, right now..." The adviser was bowing and begging on the ground at Kululu's feet.

"There are no extra hosts. And you have to be in the demon realm while I'm gone," Kululu told him. "I am preparing for my resurrection, after all. Ku, ku, ku. Remember?"

"If... If there are no available hosts, let me take yours! You can put off resurrecting yourself for another thousand years!" the advisor pleaded. "I'll let you do whatever you want to me in the demon realm for forever in return! I'll devote my life to you... Just show me this one kindness. It's a matter of life or death. I NEED to be in the human realm!"

"Ku, ku, ku. Hmmm... Let me think about it. I've thought, and I've decided, no way, buckaroo!" Kululu told him, like an asshole.

"B-but... I've recently learned that my brother... He's gone missing! His host and him cannot be found! What if he's in danger? I need to find him! I need to protect him!" the adviser begged. "Please... Whatever you have planned for the human realm can wait. Jerking around humans isn't as important as my brother's life - "

In a flash of light, Kululu's horns uncurled into cord-like things and swung forward toward the adviser's neck.

"Don't you _dare_ say your brother's life is more important than me being in the human realm." Kululu's tone was cold. "You have no idea what I do there and how important it is to me."

"I know being on the human realm is our life source, but I'll share energy with you. I'll make sure you can still live, just please..." The adviser didn't seem as frightened as the sharp horn by his throat as he was the idea of his brother being dead.

"No. And that's my final answer," Kululu answered.

The screen Fuyuki was watching went dark.

"Soooo..." Fuyuki didn't know what to say. Had Kululu done the right thing? Waiting a thousand years for a human body must be boring, but still... Would his sister be alive if Kululu had let his adviser go?

"Oh, that's not all that happened! Don't worry," Kululu laughed. Apparently there was still more he had done to this poor guy. "After I rejected him, I guess he thought that the only way to get a human body would be to overthrow me. Poor guy forgot that as the Demon King, I can kill demons in the demon realm. Luckily, not a lot of subjects forgot that, but he still had a small batch of demons, a tiny little revolution. Lamest civil war in history."

"There was a civil war in the demon realm over my sister's demon going missing?!" Fuyuki was shocked. "Why didn't any of us humans hear about this?"

"Probably cuz we demons don't tell you everything about us, duh. Ku, ku, ku. And it was a small civil war. There were definitely no casualties on my side. Can't say the same about their side, but it only lasted a week, which is pretty quick in the demon realm. I completely squashed them!" Kululu seemed so proud.

"D-did... Did you kill your adviser?" Fuyuki asked. The adviser didn't seem like a bad guy. He looked just like someone who was looking out for his brother. Fuyuki could relate to him - his sister had gone missing, too.

"Nah. I hung him up on the castle walls to serve as an example for any other demons who wanted to rebel. Ku, it was more fun than throwing him in the dungeon, and I get to draw on his face whenever I want. All his pride - gone, easily. I can embarrass him whenever I want now. Ku, ku, ku," Kululu bragged. It was such a childish thing to do, yet so fitting for someone like Kululu.

Fuyuki's heart fell at how much Kululu was enjoying how he had ruined this poor guy's life. He wanted to appreciate how it sounded like Kululu was trying to be friendly by sharing a story that he thought was funny, but he was just sickened at Kululu's lack of sympathy for the poor guy. The adviser had lost his brother, and Kululu didn't even seem to care!

How was Fuyuki supposed to prove Kululu was good, when it was likely Dororo already knew about this rebellion that Kululu had been so proud of squashing?

"Your adviser... He must have really loved his brother if he was willing to put his life on the line just for a chance to save him." Fuyuki attempted to stir up some sympathy deep within Kululu. Perhaps he could get Kululu to see things from the adviser's side?

"He probably didn't really love his brother. Maybe his brother helped fuel his ego or let him feel needed and powerful or something. But he probably didn't really love him." Kululu brushed this off. "He just thought he did."

"What if he really loved him, though? Unconditionally, like how I love my sister?"

"His trust would have been betrayed eventually, then. Unconditional love always gets betrayed in the end. Happy families only exist in fairy tales," Kululu easily answered. "Love is always torn to pieces. Letting yourself trust someone enough to give a piece of yourself to them just gets you hurt. You've seen that for yourself."

Fuyuki recalled how Aki had rejected him. He knew she had probably rejected him because of this notion. She didn't want to be hurt any longer and had to hurt him in the process of protecting herself, but it still saddened him.

Even so, it was mighty sad that Kululu kept telling him these words. What kind of life had the Demon King led to bring him down to these sort of ideas?

Fuyuki wondered, trying to reflect on whether the topic of family love was a lost cause when it came to Kululu.

"You can take the body, kid. I kind of want to laugh at some old memories." Kululu let Fuyuki take control, much to Fuyuki's displeasure, due to having to constantly listen to Kululu's laughter in his head.

Still, at least he got to move.

* * *

Dororo watched Fuyuki skitter through the halls, picking up books for independent reading and talking to some of his friends.

He waited for Fuyuki to be alone.

 _His time has run out. I can no longer afford getting distracted, or letting him sway me. Fuyuki might be a nice kid, but Kululu isn't nice... He might temporarily turn over a new leaf, but as soon as Fuyuki's gone, he'll be back to his old ways,_ Dororo reminded himself.

He couldn't afford to let Kululu ever return to the demon realm. He was just so cruel. Dororo tried not to close his eyes and remember the demons who had died in that small revolution led against him.

All Garuru had wanted was to save his brother, but Kululu hadn't allowed that. Dororo, too, mourned the loss of Giroro, but he had become excited when Garuru had spoken to him about a revolution.

Giroro had turned into a martyr, at least for a few days in demon society, and Dororo's eyes had been filled with hope that Garuru could at least subdue Kululu so that Kululu lived out the rest of his days imprisoned.

However, Kululu had easily squashed the tiny rebellion and turned Garuru into a public example of why not to cross him.

 _It's all up to me, now, Garuru. I'll avenge Giroro for you. And your rebellion._ Dororo was happy he hadn't been caught secretly aiding the rebellion, because it had given him a chance to take down Kululu.

It had been Garuru, after all, who had given the idea to him before to switch Kululu's host with someone else's, making Kululu weaker and at a disadvantage.

 _Your sacrifice will not be in vain, my friend's brother._ Dororo promised silently. He held a small poison dart in his hands, waiting for the perfect chance to appear and shoot it at Fuyuki.

Poison would work nicely. Kululu wouldn't have the chance to defend himself - it would be a quick death.

"Bye, Keroro!" Fuyuki waved to Keroro as Keroro skipped off to play by himself. Fuyuki was finally as alone as he would ever be.

Now was the time to strike. Dororo took a deep breath so he could blow his poison dart. He was ready.

"Mr. Dororo! Why aren't you at the teacher's conference?" A teacher, Rallen Tando, approached him curiously, not noticing the poison dart in his hands.

"T-teacher's conference?" Dororo asked, confused and startled. He knew he had been invited to that to share ideas about how to help students, but he had assumed nobody would have cared if he attended and if he didn't go, nobody would notice.

"So why aren't you heading off to there?" Tando asked

Dororo's eyes shined with tears. They had remembered him! But... he had a job to do... Something that was more important than being a teacher. Right?

But at the same time he couldn't refuse the invitation to be at the conference. He put the dart back in his pocket and followed Rallen Tando away.

 _I wonder... is my conviction wavering? I had the perfect opportunity to kill the Demon King, but I chose brainstorming better ideas to teach over it. It's just that bringing joy to students' lives is so rewarding..._

 _No...! I can't be thinking these things. I need to kill the Demon King first. I'll be able to teach as much as I want to the young students after I have freed the world from Kululu's sadism._

 _I can't let my goals conflict... They aren't conflicting, right?_ Dororo was very worried. Still, he walked to the teacher's conference room, leaving Fuyuki behind.

* * *

Nobody was watching him. He was alone.

Well, mostly alone. The Demon King was always with him. Kululu was still busy remembering all the fun times he had, torturing that poor adviser of his.

This was as alone as he was going to get, and his best opportunity. Kululu had told him as much about his sister as he could.

So Fuyuki headed outside of section of town that had secondary school, and he instead headed to the borderlines of the outside of town where the monsters were.

Maybe Natsumi was living in the forest. Fighting monsters. Maybe that's where she was.

" _Kid. Where ya going?_ " Kululu asked

"I'm looking for my sister," he told him. He just needed to find a monster, and he was sure Natsumi would come out of nowhere to save him.

" _Your sister was eaten, remember? That's why you won't find her. Even I won't be able to find her. It's the only explanation. She's dead, Fuyuki._ "

Fuyuki didn't want to hear these things. He saw a monster coming out of the forest to try to feed on crops from a distance. Stretching out his arms, he waited for Natsumi to come and save him.

She didn't. There was no sign of his sister.

Instead, Kululu took over the body and zapped the monster with electricity before it ate Fuyuki.

"Don't do something dangerous, kid. It might put me in danger and I care too much about myself to let that happen," Kululu told him. Fuyuki frowned and took control of the body again.

"B-but, it's not fair!" he screamed. "Why can't I find Natsumi? Why can't I look for her?" He dropped to his knees, crying. "She must be alive. I can find her, I really can! After all, i-if I can get the Demon King himself to investigate her disappearance then I can - "

" _YOU DID WHAT?_ " Kululu's voice sounded angry again. Fuyuki sucked in his tears in shock.

He had said too much. "Oops." He tried to laugh it off.

" _So you were trying to manipulate me, huh? Ku. That's something I would do. I suppose I'm rubbing off on you a little..._ "

Fuyuki didn't like the sound of this. "So... you're not mad? You're proud?"

" _Nah, I'm still mad._ " Although Kululu had a sliver of pride in Fuyuki's actions, he was still mad. " _I'll think of an appropriate punishment for you, because nobody gets away with manipulating the Demon King._ "

Fuyuki gulped. He was scared now.

* * *

He didn't know what kind of punishment Kululu was planning for him, but he was on edge. However, he could not stay awake forever, and eventually fell asleep, letting Kululu infiltrate his mind.

As soon as Fuyuki was asleep, he felt Kululu prodding around in his memory bank.

 _Oh no... He's going to force me to live through another memory..._ he realized as he was thrust into a vivid dream. He could only hope this one wasn't a traumatic one.

He let himself dream, since he couldn't fight back.

* * *

To Fuyuki's surprise, he was much younger. Nine years old and walking around town. There was a big crowd of people all around the streets.

"The Nishizawa heir is here! She just flew in! She's chosen this city to stay in for the week!" people all around him were saying.

Fuyuki didn't pay much attention to them. He just hurried off to the library.

* * *

The talk about the Nishizawa heiress didn't stop. Rumors flew throughout town about her vast riches and how famous she was. However, Fuyuki overheard several rumors about her being spoiled and "too good" for anybody.

Slowly, he began to realize the blue-haired girl who was visiting town was being avoided by everyone. As soon as she turned her back, they would talk about her being spoiled and too good to talk to them, but when she was in front of them they just avoided her.

Fuyuki felt a little sorry for the girl. He hadn't seen her much in person. She was surrounded by guards almost all the time, but he felt sorry that people were talking about her behind her back.

One day she was walking around the library, wearing a long blue dress and reading some books. She tripped over her long dress and fell to the ground, the books in her hand tumbling onto the ground with her.

The Nishizawa girl looked shocked, at having tripped.

"Are you all right?" Fuyuki asked, bending down to help her up. Momoka looked shocked for a moment that he was talking to her.

"Y-yeah... I just tripped. This dress may be beautiful and perfectly tailored, but it isn't very comfortable to wear," she told him with a laugh, taking his hand.

Fuyuki nodded. "That doesn't sound like fun." He knelt down and helped her pick up her books. "Do you like reading? I personally love it!"

"It's very interesting. I have to do a lot of it as a Nishizawa. Have to figure out how to keep the economy going, after all," she gave a nervous laugh. Fuyuki smiled.

"That sounds hard! You should start reading more books for fun! It's more enjoyable that way. Want some recommendations of some good ones?" he asked excitedly.

"S-sure," Momoka agreed. Fuyuki wrote down a quick list.

"Oh... wait, I've been so busy talking about books I forgot to ask your name." Fuyuki blushed. "Mom says it's important to have good manners."

"Momoka Nishizawa," Momoka responded.

"Fuyuki Hinata. Nice to meet you, Momoka! Momoka is a really nice name!" He gave her a quick handshake. Momoka smiled and looked down at her hand.

"Nice to meet you, too, Fuyuki. Um... When I finish the books, can I come back here and discuss them with you? I just... I don't have many people to talk to besides tutors, and they're boring."

"Of course! It could be like a club! We could meet here at the library!" Fuyuki sounded excited. "Just you and me, talking about all the stuff we like!"

Momoka smiled. "I would like that. I've never been in a club before."

Fuyuki smiled. He would like that too.

* * *

Weeks turns into months, and Momoka never left the town. She and Fuyuki grew closer and closer as the days went on, Fuyuki being the only person who would treat her like an actual person instead of a rich heiress.

Fuyuki also enjoyed her company and talking to her and bouncing ideas off of her. It didn't take long for him to consider her his best friend.

Sometimes he would even stare at her and think about how lucky he was that he had met her in the library and that they were friends. He turned away when she looked at him.

It was rude to stare, after all.

* * *

"Why'd you choose that memory to look at?" Fuyuki asked, waking up and facing Kululu in his mind. His first meeting with Momoka had been pleasant enough. Had Kululu decided to go easy on him?

"Ku, easy. I dove into your store of 'romantic' memories and found that one," Kululu answered. "Ick, gross. I could feel your childish crush radiating off of you all the time."

He had been wrong. Kululu had not decided to go easy on him.

"Wh-what do you mean, childish crush? There's a part of my memories that are labeled romantic? Wh-what are you talking about?" Fuyuki was so confused.

"I'm an expert at manipulating memories. So I looked for ones that were embarrassing. This one had the feeling of 'love' written all over it," Kululu teased. "Your heart was beating louder than I laugh. And I laugh pretty loud. KU, KU, KU!"

"W-what!? No it wasn't!" Fuyuki denied.

"You kept peeking at her through your fingers in that gross, lovesick, childish way," Kululu told him. "Can't believe you had a crush on that Nishizawa girl..."

"I did not!" Fuyuki denied.

"Oh? So you _still_ have a crush on her? Thanks for correcting me. Ku, ku, ku."

Fuyuki blushed deeply. Although he probably deserved this teasing for trying to manipulate Kululu, and this was much better than Kululu exposing a traumatic memory, he still felt embarrassed.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Fuyuki loudly yelled, just being childish and embarrassed.

" 'Kay," Kululu agreed. "But if you're going to be all childish and filled with such embarrassing denial, than I'll take the body while you cool down. Ku, ku, ku." Kululu disappeared.

And Fuyuki was left alone.

* * *

He was still annoyed. He knew what Kululu had done was harmless fun, but now Kululu probably thought he had a crush on Momoka just because he could feel his "feelings" that belonged with the memory.

He did _not_ have a crush on Momoka!

Fuyuki let an annoyed huff escape his lips as he sat alone in mind jail. He could see that Kululu was being a typical jerk as he ran around with the body.

 _I can't believe he can see my memories at will..._ Fuyuki was so annoyed. _Just because we're connected and he's in my mind..._ Although being in his own mind had its perks, like that he could conjure up anything he imagined, it still had too many downsides.

 _Wait... Connected...!_ He seemed to recall it wasn't just him that could imagine things in his mind. Kululu had eaten popcorn in it and made an armchair and even listened to music. Could he use Fuyuki's imagination to do that?

No, he obviously had to use his own. Which meant that Kululu's mind had to be in Fuyuki's mind somewhere. After all, he was in Fuyuki's body. Kululu's mind was probably just as connected to Fuyuki as Kululu was. If that made any sense.

 _Hehehe... His little tricks will become his worst nightmare... Looking into my memories is going to become a double-edged sword to him!_ While Kululu was distracted, Fuyuki tried to concentrate. He knew Kululu could conjure up his own memories, so logically, he could probably look into them himself.

He would pull up something embarrassing and secretive and get Kululu back! And since Kululu didn't sleep, he wouldn't have to relive whatever Fuyuki saw and it would be just for Fuyuki's eyes!

Fuyuki concentrated very hard and deeply. It was so much harder than gaining control of his body. He was trying to look into Kululu's very mind.

It took hours and hours of practice before Fuyuki finally got lucky. His body was thrown across his mind and into somewhere else entirely.

"AH!" A rush of emotions flooded Fuyuki's head as he just sort of hovered in the air, a stream of images going way too fast for Fuyuki to focus on passed him. They were probably memories from Kululu's life. Some of him interacting with other demons, some of him being alone, him talking to people with all sorts of different hair colors.

Fuyuki couldn't focus though as the memories passed him like a film strip.

"Come on... I need secrets..." he whispered to himself. The film strip of memories slowed down and Fuyuki almost swam toward one that the memories were leading him to.

A memory surrounded by chains with a rusting lock.

 _This... This must be a terrible secret._ Wasting no time, and not wanting Kululu to know he was missing. Fuyuki opened it.

And he was thrusted into Kululu's past.

* * *

The first thing Fuyuki saw was a crowd of demons, more demons than he could count. So many demons crowed the area, as if they were all there to witness an important event.

"Please bow to the new Demon King!" Fuyuki turned to see if Kululu was getting crowned on an outside stage, but instead he saw a different demon, someone with lavender hair instead of Kululu's dark purple. Dressed in cheaper-looking clothes with a bandage on his nose, this other Demon King looked quite kind, a look much different from Kululu's.

"King Shupepe has been crowned! May he live long and rule with a steady hand!" The crowd cheered. Fuyuki looked around for Kululu and finally spotted him off to the side on the stage. He looked so young and tiny and out of place.

 _Ah... Shupepe... The Demon King before Kululu. I think I remember briefly hearing about him in school,_ Fuyuki realized. He must have been Kululu's older brother. And it looked like Kululu, despite not being the Demon King, was important enough to be on the stage with the demon king.

 _I heard Shupepe didn't rule for very long, though, so Kululu must have become king after this..._ Still, he slightly wondered why Kululu hated family and siblings if he had a sibling himself.

He was quickly thrust into a new scene, the coronation being done.

* * *

Kululu sat on the floor. If he was human, he would have looked no older than five or six. He was so quiet and withdrawn and shy that it was hard to believe that what Fuyuki was looking at was Kululu.

It was clearly him, though, because every now and then he would let out a happy "ku ku ku!" as he tinkered with some machine parts on the ground.

The castle around Kululu looked like it was in mourning, probably over the king before Shupepe, most likely Kululu's father. Servants were dressed in all black and everybody had a sad quiet look on their faces.

"I know we're all sad over my father's death, but we need to move on, for his sake and our own," Shupepe spoke up, trying to inspire the servants. "He will always be with us in our hearts, but we need to keep moving on. We can't just stop and do nothing."

The servants seemed to understand.

"I understand your plight. As his eldest son I was the closest to him. I, too, mourn him, so I can sympathize." Shupepe seemed like a much more understanding guy than Kululu. "And I want to assure you, as king I will be kind to the people and try to let everybody live in prosperity."

The servants smiled.

"Oh King Shupepe, we're so glad you're around." They shed a tear.

"Still... Don't you think it's a bit odd that the old king just suddenly died? He wasn't even sick! Do you think he just went too long without getting any human energy?" one asked.

Shupepe let them chatter. He just smiled at them kindly.

* * *

It was only when all the servants had gone that Shupepe turned to Kululu.

"Do you have the new blueprints for that machine I asked for? Something that will help the demons in the human world gain more money?" he asked.

"No... I'm making a toy." Kululu admitted. To Fuyuki's surprise, he saw Shupepe slap the younger Kululu.

"You can't make toys! You have work to do, remember? Just because Dad's dead doesn't mean your deal with the Demon King is off. You'll continue your work for me," Shupepe told him. "Remember the bargain?"

"Y-yeah... I invent things for the Demon King, he passes it off as his own, and in return he helps me possess a host and gain energy from the h-human plane," younger Kululu stuttered out.

"Yes! And you know what would happen if you broke the deal and let someone else find out about your intelligence?" Shupepe reminded him, grabbing him by his hair since he couldn't grip his horns.

"Y-you wouldn't help me..." Kululu remembered.

"Yeah, and then you wouldn't be able to possess anyone, and you would die because you didn't have any energy." Shupepe's tone seemed less nice than it did around anyone else. "You would die because you're one of the weakest demons around, Kululu. Maybe _the_ weakest demon around. The only thing you have that you can offer our world is your intelligence, but that won't let you live. So if you want to survive, you have to give your intelligence over to me."

"Why can't I just have both? Life _and_ intelligence?" Kululu seemed confused as he looked up at Shupepe. Shupepe pulled him up by his hair again, tugging at it. "OW! OW! OW!"

"It's your fault for thinking you have a gift like being super smart or something. You aren't special. If it wasn't for your gift you'd be nothing." Shupepe's tone now sounded almost jealous.

 _So that's it. He wanted to be intelligent, too. But only Kululu has that level of super genius,_ Fuyuki realized. He could feel Kululu's pain, though, as his brother relentlessly picked on him, verbally and physically. No wonder he didn't care much about family!

"Remember. Make things only for me. The Demon King is the one who gets intelligence. Not you," Shupepe reminded him.

Kululu weakly nodded and Shupepe pushed him onto the ground, turning around to leave.

"Finish the blueprints by tomorrow," he ordered over his shoulder as he left the room.

Kululu was left all alone and he huddled up into a ball. He started grumbling and crying, and Fuyuki could feel his emotions - loneliness. At this point in time, during the innocence of childhood, he had probably wanted his brother to care about him.

Fuyuki felt sorry for him.

The door opened again and Fuyuki thought for a second that Shupepe was coming back. Instead a girl with pink hair and dressed in orange walked in, two giant bows in her hair.

"Kululu? Is something wrong?" The girl, who looked to be about Shupepe's age, crouched to the ground next to Kululu's level. "Are you hurt?"

"Shupepe pulled my hair, Rinono! It hurts!" he cried, running into the girl's arms. Fuyuki had just assumed Kululu had never hugged someone in his life, so he was surprised to see this.

Rinono rubbed the top of his head and pat it. She took a handkerchief and wiped away his tears. "I'm sorry, Kululu... I'm sure Shupepe didn't really mean it. He's just under a lot of stress to be like our father."

 _So... This girl must be Kululu's sister,_ Fuyuki realized. _Well... That doesn't make much sense. Kululu said family always hurts you, yet his sister and he seem pretty close. Why then does he hate family so much?_

"Why did Dad die?" Kululu asked. "He wasn't sick last time I checked."

"It's... complicated," Rinono responded. She seemed to look far off and distant. "Do you want me to play with you to make up for how mean Shupepe was being?" she asked.

"YES! YES! I wanna hear a story!" Kululu begged. So Rinono took a book off the shelf and read to Kululu as he sat on her lap.

* * *

Although Kululu's abuse continued at the hands of Shupepe, the people still seemed to adore the new King Shupepe. Rinono also continued playing with Kululu, and although Fuyuki understood him hating at least one of his siblings, he couldn't understand the other one.

Then the next memory flooded through Fuyuki's head, as Kululu ran through the castle halls.

"I'm going to play dolls with Rinono! She loves playing dolls!" Kululu zoomed through the hallway with two dolls in his hands, reaching his sister's room and pushing the door forward.

The sight that greeted the once-innocent Kululu's eyes, and poor spectator Fuyuki's eyes, was horrifying.

Shupepe and Rinono, brother and sister were lying in Rinono's bed together, entwined in something Fuyuki knew was not something appropriate _at all_.

In fact, even young Kululu seemed to know it was vastly sexual as his mouth hung open.

"KULULU! LEAVE!" his sister yelled in shock.

"Our deal is off if you don't leave now! And don't tell anyone what you just saw!" Shupepe growled.

Kululu turned around and left, still in shock.

Slowly he moved to the living room, to think about what he just saw.

" _Shupepe and Rinono... They were having sex right then, weren't they?_ " Fuyuki realized he could hear the younger Kululu's thoughts. Kululu seemed to have been well-educated about reproduction. " _No... Shupepe is a bully... He must have made Rinono do that with him..._ " Fuyuki could see that Kululu's hands were shaking. " _Rinono doesn't deserve that. I thought he was only mean to me. Not Rinono._ " Kululu's eyes seemed to scan the room around him trying to figure out what to do. A small knife sat over a fireplace. " _Rinono's always protected me. Been there for me when I needed her. I... I have to help her... Th-this has to be the end of it. The end of Shupepe."_ Kululu stacked up a few chairs to try to climb up to the knife, finally grabbing it and falling down as his tower of chairs came undone.

"No... wait... This won't work," he realized. "N-nobody... Nobody can kill the Demon King... The Demon King can harm me, but he's too powerful... I won't be able to harm him..." Kululu was about to drop the knife, but he tightened his grip instead. " _I c-can't do NOTHING, though. Wh-what if he continues hurting Rinono? B-but... I will die if I attack him_..."

 _But... I'm going to die anyway because I'm weak... Maybe I can harm him enough so he can't do any harm. Is the Demon King immune to harm?"_

Kululu decided that he had to see for himself. It was die doing nothing, or die having inflicted some pain.

He decided to wait for the perfect moment that Shupepe would be alone.

* * *

Shupepe was working on a new tax plan in the study, when Kululu quietly opened the door. Before Shupepe could say or realize anything, Kululu stabbed him in the back.

"AHHH!" Shupepe screamed as Kululu drove the knife in and out of his back with as much force as the child could muster. He tried to shake Kululu off, but Kululu grabbed onto his horns, tugging and scratching, trying to use his knife to attack them.

To Kululu's surprise, and Fuyuki's, Shupepe bled. He sputtered out blue blood onto the floor.

Shupepe tried to turn around to defend himself, but Kululu zapped him with an invention he had placed on the floor to immobilize him. Then he continued stabbing until Shupepe was on the ground, lying in a puddle of his blood.

Kululu's hands were covered in the blood of his brother.

"H-how... How did you know?" Shupepe gasped out. "Th-that you could kill me for my power as the Demon King?"

"I... I didn't," Kululu admitted, administrating one final cut to Shupepe's gut. Shupepe let out a final breath and died.

Shupepe's horns dissolved into ashes on the ground, and as they did so a great aura overcame Kululu. The power that Shupepe once had filled Kululu's body, as mountains and mountains of magical energy filled his very being. No longer was he the weakest demon around, but the strongest.

For he had become the Demon King.

"So... our father died because Shupepe killed him for his power..." Kululu realized. "Ku. So it passes through blood, but not the bloodline."

The door swung open behind Kululu. "I heard a commotion. I came as fast as I could - " Rinono looked down, shocked at Shupepe's dead body and Kululu standing over him.

Kululu smiled at Rinono, although his face was covered in blood. "Look at what I did!" He looked so proud.

Rinono's eyes were just wide with shock. She walked over to Shupepe and bent down to him, cradling his head in her lap and crying.

"I killed Shupepe! I was able to kill the Demon King! He always said I was weak, but the weak one was him!" Kululu seemed giddy as he told the story. "I...I protected you, Rinono. Don't worry. You're safe from him now."

"SAFE?! SAFE?!" Rinono screamed as she pushed Kululu away from her. "I didn't need to be safe from him!"

Kululu rubbed his arm, not understanding what was happening. He had thought he wouldn't be hurt anymore after Shupepe was gone.

"A-aren't you happy?" he asked, confused. "I killed that monster. I saw the way he was hurting you..."

"Of course I'm not happy! The person I loved most in the world is dead!" she yelled out. "Oh, Shupepe... I loved you so much. Why did this have to happen?"

"But... you don't love Shupepe..." Kululu was trying to put the pieces together. What he had seen. Siblings didn't do that sort of stuff. It was wrong.

"I did love Shupepe. What we were doing was an act of love! But you wouldn't understand that because you can't feel love!"

"B-but... he was a monster..." Kululu tried to defend his actions.

"The only monster here is you. You killed your own brother," Rinono hissed. "I hate you. I hate you more than anything else in the world. Shupepe was right about you - he said you only cared about yourself, but I stuck up for you. If I didn't, maybe he would be alive."

"B-but... I-I... I thought you loved me..." Kululu seemed heart-broken.

"The person I loved most in the world was Shupepe. Why would I love his killer?" she sobbed. "I suppose you're the Demon King now. Happy with your newfound power? I bet you are. Shupepe was certainly happy with his power. I loved him so much that I didn't even mind that he killed Dad. I promised to keep it a secret. We had found love, Kululu. And you ruined it." Rinono gave him a glare. "When the people learn you're the new king, they'll hate you just as much as I hate you. And you know what? You deserve it. You deserve all the pain and suffering you have coming to you. Because you'll never be as good of a king as Shupepe was. You'll screw up." Rinono got up and looked down at her blood soaked skirt. She turned and saw the knife on the ground and thought for a moment.

Kululu looked at her expectantly. He knew what she was thinking about.

"No... I'll let you wallow in your misery. I hope you understand what you did someday. I hope you feel exactly what I'm feeling now, because I bet everybody you love will leave you for being so horrible. Like me. I loved you once and I've left." With that, she turned and walked away, leaving Kululu alone.

He cried and Fuyuki felt the emotion of Kululu's loneliness swallow him.

* * *

 _So that's why he feels so betrayed by family,_ Fuyuki realized. _The only family that treated him well told him she hated him and wished everybody he loved would leave him. I can hardly blame him for all the nasty views he's had on the world because of what he learned as a child._

Still, one of the most interesting things that Fuyuki had learned which he knew Kululu had been keeping a secret were that the Demon King could be killed in the demon realm, and that the person who killed the Demon King would become the next one.

Dororo must not have known. But still, he needed to talk to Kululu.

"What d'ya want?" Kululu asked, being summoned back into his head to converse with Fuyuki.

"I... I wanted to tell you something. To be honest and upfront about it," Fuyuki admitted.

Kululu sighed. "What terrible thing did you do?"

"You know how annoyed I was at you looking at my memories?" Fuyuki asked, taking a deep breath.

"Ku. Yeah. I remember how embarrassed you got when I said you had a crush on Momoka. Ku, ku, ku," he laughed.

Fuyuki blushed, but brushed it off. "Well... I kind of tried to look into your memories to see if I could find anything embarrassing on you..."

"Good luck with that, kid. I doubt looking into a demon's memories are possible," Kululu leaned back, relaxing. " _Especially_ the Demon King's memories. Ku, ku, ku."

"And I was successful," said Fuyuki. "I found out about the terrible secret you've been hiding."

Kululu fell face-first onto the mind-ground in shock.

"Wh-WHAT? O-oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!" He started pacing in a panic, completely taken by suprise by this and utterly beaten.

Fuyuki knew it was a big deal. Kululu could be killed over this! But he hadn't prepared for Kululu's shock over Fuyuki finding out.

"Oh geez, oh geez... This is bad, everybody is going to know... I'll be a laughing-stock forever, no... Forget laughing stock, I'll be executed! I'll definitely be killed over this! This is the tipping point for everybody to hate me!" Kululu was clutching his head, breathing very heavily and clearly panicking.

"L-look... It's no big deal... I won't tell anybody. I promise," said Fuyuki. "I mean... I know it would be bad for the demons to find out that you killed your brother and took his place."

Miraculously, Kululu regained his composure. "Oh. You're talking about that Shupepe thing? Oh yeah. Fuck that guy."

Fuyuki was confused by Kululu's sudden change of mood. Kululu... didn't have an even _bigger_ secret, did he?

Fuyuki looked shocked, and Kululu sighed. "So... you know now that although the Demon King is the strongest of demons 'cause he can kill any demon. He's also the most vulnerable because he can be killed by any demon."

"Why don't the other demons know this?" Fuyuki asked.

"Because kingship has been passed down in my family as far back as anyone can remember. Sons killing fathers, brothers killing brothers. Ku, ku, ku. I guess everybody thought it was a male-dominated inheritance because there are barely any demon queens. And Rinono certainly didn't become next in line after Shupepe. They're pretty stupid for not thinking about that." Kululu laughed for another minute.

"So... If Dororo kills us..." Fuyuki thought for a moment. "Will he become the next Demon King?"

"Yep," he confirmed. "It's the only way for him to regain his immortality, actually. I doubt he knows this, though. It's a pretty tight secret. Ku, ku, ku."

"So the reason you don't have any heirs is because you're afraid of them killing you eventually for the position?" Fuyuki questioned.

Kululu thought for a moment. "I don't think I ever really thought about it like that. Huh, I guess there's another reason to hate brats right there, ku ku ku!"

Fuyuki frowned.

Kululu's voice level dropped. "You'll keep it a secret, though? Could be _really_ bad for me if this got out. Ku, ku, ku."

Fuyuki smiled. This is what he had been waiting for in their friendship. Trust.

"Of course I will. You can count on me!" he agreed, grinning.

And for some reason, Kululu felt like he could.

* * *

Dororo had a lot of work left over from the teacher's conference. He also had his newfound conflicts to think about.

 _I should have taken the shot. I have failed as an assassin,_ he lamented. Still, at least this gave Fuyuki more time to prove that Kululu was nice.

He really didn't want to have to kill Fuyuki. He decided that he would give the boy an extra chance. He would arrange a project, to see if there might be something good inside of him.

"Class, I have an assignment today that will encourage friendship between you and your demons!" Dororo tried to be loud so that the class would listen to him. "I want you to write an essay on a topic of your choice to celebrate the oncoming Victory Festival. I encourage it to be about something in demon society so you can interview your personal demon. I want you to work together with your demon for the assignment. I will not accept one person doing all the work!" Dororo narrowed his eyes. "Keroro, I'm looking at you - don't let that poor Saburo boy do the assignment by himself."

"I don't think either of us are even going to _do_ the assignment," Keroro responded. Dororo frowned at him.

"What about Momoka? What will she do?" Fuyuki asked, raising his hand. "She doesn't have a demon."

Dororo looked over at Momoka. "She'll be fine," he answered. "Now, go! Go and do your topics!" He gave Fuyuki a wink. _Prove to me that he is good through this essay. Please._

Fuyuki understood, but his mouth moved on its own.

"Gross. I ain't interested," Kululu spoke.

Dororo frowned again. _Wrong idea, Kululu! Wrong idea!_

Fuyuki had a long road ahead of him.

* * *

Fuyuki balanced a pencil on his nose, trying to figure out what topic to choose. "I want to write about dinosaurs," he decided.

"No," said Kululu. "I don't know anything about dinosaurs. You'd fail if you chose them because they don't have anything to do with demons."

"What about aliens?" Fuyuki asked.

"Don't exist."

"Yes, they do! Ummmm... The Nishizawa Contract? You made it, after all, so it would give you the upper hand," Fuyuki pointed out.

"Nishizawa girl was probably unoriginal and took it as her subject. That and I don't want it." Kululu responded.

"What about angels? They're extinct. I don't know much about them, but you met a bunch, right?" Fuyuki asked.

"What subject on angels? You can't just write an essay on a species without narrowing it down. Do you want their sociology? History? I don't know anything about those. Biology, I'm adept in, however. Ku, ku, ku."

Fuyuki frowned. The way Kululu sinisterly laughed made him imagine Kululu dissecting an angel. He probably had done that to more than one. It was a war, after all, and there might have been some human testing going on. Well, angel testing.

"Uhhh... Nah, it's all right... How about siblings? Let's write about siblings!" Fuyuki threw out.

"What does that have to do with demons?" Kululu asked, bored now.

"Well, I'll write about how, demons and humans alike, we all have families! And how siblings stick together through thick and thin and - "

"That's false," he shot down. "If you learned anything about me from prying into my secrets, you know that's false. You saw, didn't you?"

"Well... Yes... But at one time, you can't deny that you and your sister had a strong relationship, and doesn't that matter a little bit?" Fuyuki asked, trying to convince Kululu. He knew writing about family would win over Dororo's heart.

"That relationship was false," Kululu insisted. "She doesn't care about me at all and never did."

"I... I think she sort of did. She cares about you deep down, even now, I think," said Fuyuki. "After all, she didn't kill you when she had the chance, and she's kept the secret that the Demon King gains his powers by killing the old Demon King. She's made sure everybody doesn't try to kill you by keeping that a secret."

"That doesn't mean anything. She just wanted me to someday find people I cared for, so they could die like Shupepe did. She wanted me to suffer," Kululu told him. "And I think she wanted her words to curse me."

Fuyuki shook his head. "I think a shred of her still cares for you. Even if she doesn't realize it. I mean... if she didn't, she would have realized you weren't suffering and tried to kill you, right?" Fuyuki asked.

Kululu was silent. Almost as if he wanted to believe it.

"You can write your dumb essay, kid. But I ain't helping you with the wording or editing it for you," he finally said.

Fuyuki gave a broad smile and started on the essay that he hoped would win Dororo over.

Siblings: the same, whether human or demon.

He gave his essay a title and wrote words of love and companionship, about family. He still believed that family cared about each other. And he hoped his essay was so good it would prove Kululu wrong, despite his tragic family history.

He had faith in himself.

* * *

Fuyuki turned his essay in the next day to Dororo, smiling proudly. He had worked late into the night to get everything perfect, and had fallen asleep after he had finished.

Just as Kululu predicted, Momoka had written about the Nishizawa contract and Saburo and Keroro hadn't turned anything in.

He sat at his desk until class was done, spacing out about dinosaurs. In space.

When he awoke from his space-out session, he realized only he and Dororo were in the room.

"I'm sorry, Fuyuki. Your time limit is over. I have to kill you now," Dororo told him sadly.

"AUGH! Please! Read my essay first! It will prove to you all about how great of a guy Kululu is!" Fuyuki raised his hands up to defend himself.

Dororo dropped his sword. "That's right! I have to grade those essays! I'm so sorry, Fuyuki, please put a rain-check on your assassination. I really must be going!" Dororo ran off with a few red pens to grade.

He had once again chosen the priorities of a teacher over the priorities of an assassin. Fuyuki sighed.

"Hopefully he'll think you wrote part of it," Fuyuki pleaded.

" _KU, KU, KU, KU!"_ Kululu laughed loudly. Fuyuki didn't know what Kululu was so happy about, but he decided to let him be happy.

He had won today, after all, and saved their lives with the power of his sibling essay.

 _He's doesn't know I switched the essay while he slept with one I wrote about Demon-teaching methods and why they're better than anything Dororo can do, isn't he? Ku, ku, ku. This is great._

Fuyuki remained blissfully unaware.

* * *

 **Please review!**


	8. I Want to Go to the Festival!

**I bet yall are so happy whenever a Scissors chapter comes in. Like "well it may not be the best quality, but thank the gods it isn't 10,000 words."**

 **Also, tip for this chapter: Whenever Kululu complains about the festival just imagine him in a Cinderella dress singing in a lovely sopprano voice, "I don't want to go to the festival!"**

 **-Scissors**

* * *

On the bright side, Dororo was willing to acknowledge that Kululu contributed to the essay.

On the downside, the essay was an insult. So it was really no wonder that Kululu had written it.

Dororo was clutching the papers so tensely in his shaking hands that the edges were starting to crumble. He raged inwardly, but his eyes kept taking in the words.

 _Another point to consider in favor of the claim that Dororo's teaching methods are vastly inferior to the traditional methods of the demons,_ he read, _is that Dororo becomes frequently distracted by his main motive, which is to assassinate me. Of course, as we all know by now, it appears that that has become rather a side motive by this point. This is most insulting to the Demon King, who had once hired Dororo as an assassin, regarding him at least somewhat competent. He knows now that he was wrong_. Dororo was appalled. How had Kululu figured out about his wavering commitment? It wasn't that obvious, was it?

His eyes lit with fury as he went on. _Now, most teachers, we ought to realize, have gone through training, which involves at least one full year of unpaid internship. Dororo, being an assassin, therefore, should not even qualify for his current position! It is absurd and the authorities ought to know. Furthermore all his lessons are history-based, meaning that he neglects to realize that everyone in his class is possessed by an immortal demon who has heard his same spiel many times through. He really has no new material; then again, you can't expect much creativity from a guy like him. Conversely, a lesson plan following the traditional structure of demon school would involve much less history and review, and more of topics the students DIDN'T ALREADY KNOW ABOUT, like all lesson plans should be. I must also mention that no one even listen when he speaks because_ —

That was when Dororo stopped reading. That Kululu! Dororo felt betrayed. How could he have been such a fool for putting his faith in Fuyuki and assuming that they would produce something worthwhile together? He saw now that there would be no more giving Kululu second, third, and fourth chances. Dororo had been too soft, letting his emotions (and casual hobby) get the better of him. It was time that he take the reigns and finally do what he came here to do. Take his revenge for the sake of everyone, and teachers too.

Such a heartless monster did not deserve to keep living.

* * *

It was all about timing. Dororo needed the right moment to strike with his poison darts—possibly some time when Kululu was distracted. Then it would be over quickly, and Dororo could continue teaching, or meet back up with Koyuki, or something. Perhaps both.

He shook the thoughts from his head. No, it wouldn't do him any good to be thinking so recklessly of the future when he had to focus on other things at the moment.

 _But, perhaps I should put the decision of when to do it on hold_ , he decided. _Right now, my class needs me!_

Dororo marched to the front of his class, trying not to think too hard of the contents of Kululu's essay. Luckily for him, the daily clamor of chatter amongst the students was enough to keep him momentarily distracted.

"Good morning, class," he greeted them.

The clamor was cut short as the students all turned to him and began inquiring about their essay scores.

"What about me? Did I pass?"

"Did you like my topic? It was about demon delicacies!"

"I forgot to turn mine in. Can I do it now for half-credit?"

"Everyone!" Dororo hushed them. "I told you all that you would do fine, so long as you wrote about demon society and collaborated with your demon."

Fuyuki smiled. He certainly didn't do the second part, but Dororo would never have to know.

"In other words, nearly everyone passed. Except for you, Fuyuki."

Fuyuki's smile dropped.

"And Saburo," Dororo added, "but neither you nor Keroro even turned anything in…"

"I don't understand," Fuyuki said in his head to Kululu. "How did we fail?"

His only response was the cold laughter that came from the Demon King.

Fuyuki got a sinking feeling. "What did you do?"

" _Oh… nothing much. I may have—ku ku ku!—switched out your essay for a much better one_."

Well then, no wonder he had felt so tired that morning, Fuyuki realized. Kululu had been tinkering around again in his sleep!

"Do you WANT to get assassinated?" he asked him again. "You just shot both of us in the foot, you do realize. That was my last chance at getting Dororo to change his mind about you!"

" _Ooh, look at how much I care_ ," Kululu chuckled.

"I can't see anything!"

" _Ku ku ku. Exactly_ ," he said. " _Kid, Dororo doesn't stand a chance against me. Remember hearing about how I squashed that week-long uprising? Ya think one mortal assassin would somehow be any more powerful than 200 demons?_ " Hearing Fuyuki's silence, he finished, " _Yeah. That's what I thought_."

Fuyuki balled his fists and laid his head down on the desk in defeat. To everyone around him, the sight of Fuyuki having an internal struggle was becoming normal. He talked often to everyone about how obnoxious the Demon King was. It wasn't like Kululu minded.

Dororo let out a sigh and scratched the back of his neck nervously. It was good that all the students were looking at Fuyuki right now, so that he could hide his distress at how much of a flop the last project he assigned was. Fortunately, he was not out of ideas. The teacher's conference he attended the other day reminded him exactly what they all needed.

"Victory Festival," he said aloud. _That_ got the class's attention. They all snapped their heads toward him. He cleared his throat. "Uh, I mean, who's excited for the festival!"

All the students cheered. Well, most of them did. All the ones who didn't think it was lame.

"Wow! That's great!" Dororo smiled at their overall enthusiasm. "Who has plans for the big day?"

Hands shot up, and one by one, kids shouted things out. "I'm going to see my parents!" "I'm going to give my dog a big hug." "I'm going to eat an entire cake!"

" _Ugh, I can't believe this_ ," Kululu complained, mostly to himself. " _How can these people live with themselves?_ "

"You really need to just lighten up a bit," Fuyuki told him frankly.

Kululu made a grumbling noise in response, but gave no other verbal answer.

"Well, until the day arrives," Dororo said to the class, "we all need to work our hardest to put together something for the festival. Perhaps you would all like to make a booth?"

"What kind of booth?" one of the students asked.

"Well," Dororo started, "it has to be family-friendly. And it has to actually, you know, be relevant to the victory of the war somehow. I'm sure we'll be able to come up with something very quickly. Does anyone have any ideas?"

A hand shot up. "Dunk tank?"

"No, I'm sorry. That has nothing to do with the war."

The hand went down in sadness.

"Um… anyone else?" Dororo looked around the room.

"Informational center?"

"Angel-crushing games?"

"Musical number!"

Fuyuki asked Kululu, "You got any ideas?"

" _Um, yeah. How about we leave?_ "

He sighed. He supposed he'd never be able to change Kululu's mind about hating festivals. "Can't you at least give it a chance?"

He was sure Kululu was frowning. " _You got any idea how many times I've had to go through this same festival? And it's the same crap each time. Never gets any different_."

"But what's so bad about it?"

For a moment, Kululu was silent. Then he said, " _You'll understand when you're older, kid. Well, if you ever get to be as old as me_."

Fuyuki started feeling anxious. The festival was only a week away. What if Kululu found a way somehow to force him to not attend? If that happened, he didn't know how else he was going to see his mom. He couldn't stand to not see her for another year.

"Well, these are all very good ideas," Dororo noted, "except for the dunk tank… but how about we hear from a few of the demons in the room?"

"Aww, you just heard from me!"

"I don't have any ideas. All the good ones have already been used in past years."

It was Keroro who finally spoke up with something worthwhile. "How 'bout we put on a play?" he suggested. "I volunteer me as an actor!"

All the other students chipped in with their approval of the idea. "That sounds great!" "I love acting." "Imagine me in an angel costume!" "We're gonna need a lot of prop weapons." "But can it be a musical, too?"

Fuyuki thought this was a good idea. He'd never seen a play at the Victory Festival before. Would it be with puppets, he wondered, or would the students have to do it? He knew from various bad experiences that he wasn't the best of actors. But hey, at least he was better than his sister!

"Play it is, then." Dororo wrote something down on the board. "Now what—"

"A _play_?!" Kululu made Fuyuki stand up, taking control. "Fuyuki, don't you even THINK about it! I already took your name off the list."

" _Kululu, you're talking out loud!_ " he warned him.

"I don't care if I'm talking out loud!" Kululu shouted. He must have not been able to think so clearly, because if he could, he would have just communicated to Fuyuki through his head. "There is no way in hell that you or I am acting in this embarrassment of a celebration!"

He stormed out of the room at once. Dororo watched him leave with wide, curious eyes. He slowly grinned. Distraction needed? Distraction obtained.

"Shame he doesn't wanna do it," said Keroro, tucking Saburo's hands behind his head. "He would have been great at playing himself."

* * *

When it was lunch time, Fuyuki was surprised to see Keroro sit down next to him. For the most part, he had been trying to avoid Kululu and him after the electrocution incident.

"Hi," said Fuyuki. "How have you been doing?"

"A lot better," he admitted with a smile. "You really knocked some sense into me. Mind if I sit here?"

"Sure." Fuyuki scooted over to make room for him. Originally he thought Kululu would make him eat alone again, but right now he was hidden away mumbling about plays. So then he wanted to sit with Momoka, but it appeared that she hadn't come to lunch yet.

As Fuyuki started on his food, Keroro spoke to him. "Wish I could have helped you more with Mr. Dororo this week, but I… I just couldn't bring myself to do anything else. Did he come to attack you again? Or…"

Fuyuki froze and dropped his food from his hands. " _Saburo_?"

"Um… yeah?"

He didn't believe it. "I thought you were Keroro still!"

"Oh. No." Saburo shook his head, giving a small laugh. "Keroro's taking a break right now. Said I should get out for a while. Besides, I was pretty hungry." He bit into his food. "Where's… Kululu…?" The words came out slowly, as if he dared not to ask.

"Grumbling and complaining," Fuyuki told him.

" _Oh, I am not!_ " Kululu protested.

"Yeah." Fuyuki nodded. "Don't think he'll be out for a while."

" _Wish we were in separate bodies so I could electrocute you, ku ku ku_."

Fuyuki swallowed his next bit of food pretty hard.

Saburo looked a bit relieved that Kululu was away. Seeing him would probably stir up melancholy thoughts, Fuyuki guessed.

"Anyway, Kululu told me not to worry about Dororo," Fuyuki said. "Then he bragged a bunch. But Dororo's fought me before, so I'm not sure what to believe."

"Well, around school, you should be fine, so long as you're hanging around other people all the time," Saburo suggested. "But the festival…." He frowned. Then he smiled. "Hey, if you want, I could totally be your bodyguard for the festival!"

"Oh, that's okay," Fuyuki told him. "I was actually going to ask Momoka if she wanted to hang out with me for the festival."

"Oh." Saburo looked rather disappointed.

"But…" Fuyuki stirred around his food with his eating utensils. "I don't know if I'll even be able to _go_ to the festival. Kululu seems so against it. So I might not be able to see my mom."

"That's right," Saburo recalled. "I heard she was arrested. …Well, what about your sister?" he asked. He had met Natsumi maybe once or twice; he didn't remember much about her. "At least she's okay, right?"

Fuyuki made a face. "Natsumi's banned from Victory Festivals. And I couldn't see her anyway, because…" He blinked back some tears. "Because…"

"Fuyuki?" Saburo asked softly.

"Because she's probably dead!" he finally yelled.

"What?" Saburo's eyes widened. "Oh, no! I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have brought her up."

"No… it's all right. You didn't know." Fuyuki sniffed. "She—She might not be dead, though. She could just be missing. Kululu wasn't able to find out anything about what happened to Natsumi and her demon—"

Saburo cut him off there, or rather Keroro did, as he pushed forward and took control. "You don't mean Natsumi Hinata, do you? Giroro's host he told me about before he left the demon realm?" he said with a mighty gasp. " _Giroro's_ missing?"

"Well, yes." Fuyuki presumed this was Keroro now. "Didn't you hear? Kululu said there was some sort of mini-resistance back on Keron and—"

"I had no idea!" Keroro clutched Saburo's hair in shock. "This is awful! How could Giroro be missing?"

"Is there a problem here?" Dororo asked, coming over. He sensed there was a problem as soon as he heard shouting, and as a respectable teacher, it was his duty to deal with the commotion.

Keroro stood up and gripped Dororo by his shirt. "Mr. Dororo! This is awful. One of my demon friends has gone missing! What am I supposed to do?"

Dororo's eyes watered with tears. "You—You—You can't be serious, Keroro! You never showed any remorse when _I_ went missing!" he told him.

"Wait, what?" Keroro let go of him and scratched his head. "Who were you, again?"

Dororo left in tears.

Keroro shrugged and gave Fuyuki a nervous laugh. "Well. Don't know what I did." He paused. "Fuyuki?"

Fuyuki wasn't listening to him. Instead he was busy carrying a conversation with Kululu.

"Kululu, I suddenly just had a scary thought," he told him.

He at least expected Kululu to say "what?" but he heard nothing from the Demon King.

He continued talking anyway. "Do you think… maybe… that Natsumi disrupted the peace? And someone like Dororo had to execute her?"

" _Don't know, don't care_ ," Kululu finally replied. This wasn't particularly comforting news to hear.

"She's my sister, Kululu! How would you feel if _your_ sister went missing and nobody cared?"

A bit of silence. Then Kululu said, with a light a chuckle, " _I'd be thrilled_."

Fuyuki knit his eyebrows. How could he be so insensitive! "Maybe Dororo knows," he said. "Maybe I should go ask him."

" _Dororo wouldn't know_ ," Kululu told him. " _I don't think he had a host around the time your sister went missing. Probably just sitting around on his lazy butt like that Keroro guy_."

"Or like you."

" _Hey, hey, hey! I'm allowed to be lazy. I'm the Demon King!_ " he protested.

This brought a small smile to Fuyuki's lips. At least Kululu wasn't complaining anymore. "It's good that you're feeling better. I should go find Momoka and talk to her about hanging out with me for the festival." With Kululu, he decided it would be best to strike while the iron was hot.

" _Urg… not this stupid festival again_ …" Kululu groaned.

"Tell Saburo I'll talk to him later," Fuyuki said to Keroro, waving. "I've got to go talk to Momoka now!"

" _What? No you are not!_ " Kululu desperately told him. Fuyuki didn't listen.

Keroro waved back, a bit confused.

* * *

Meanwhile, Momoka was doing her own things.

She was eating lunch alone again today. Well, not exactly alone. She was actually having a decent time chatting it up with some invisible force.

She did this often, more often than she ought to have, because by this point people were starting to whisper and mutter about her and her imaginary friend.

In reality, there _was_ actually someone there. He was a demon, around her age if he was human, with short red hair and very small horns. This demon was particularly special, because nobody could see him but Momoka.

"And did you know that Keroro also likes acting?" Momoka asked him. "Apparently he does! He said so in class today."

The little demon put his hand to his mouth and giggled. "That's so funny! It's just like Keroro. Ah… I only wish I could talk to him myself…."

"Why don't you ever talk to Keroro in the demon realm, Tamama?" Momoka brought up. "I bet you could learn a lot more about him first-hand than from me."

Tamama promptly blushed. "Uh… well… thing is…. I-it's complicated," he finally stuttered out. "You know when you've known someone for so long that you feel so close to them, when in reality you may be just two demons amongst thousands and have never actually spoken outside of your hosts?"

"Can't say I relate completely," she confessed, "but I do understand what you mean."

They shared a lovesick sigh.

"So, how have things been with that Fukki guy?" Tamama switched topics. "The one you're always drooling after?"

"How could you say such things, Tamama!" She put her hands to her cheeks and flushed red. "Fuyuki's…. He's… going through a hard time right now." She thought about Kululu for a moment, then decided not to bring him up around Tamama, remembering what Kululu had offered her regarding the smoochies. _Wait a second, if I kissed Fuyuki while he's still hosting Kululu, would I indirectly be kissing Kululu too?_ she wondered in terror.

"Um, Momocchi, why are you making such a disgusted face?" Tamama asked her.

She groaned once with a drawn-out "eeww," then quickly brushed it off. "Oh, it's not important." Love was full of trials. This was merely one of them. But it wasn't her who was suffering, she knew: It was Fuyuki. The poor guy. "Fuyuki's doing fine."

"You… just said he's going through a hard time."

"He's fine."

Tamama gasped. "Is he still ignoring you? Even _after_ you offered him the parfait of friendship?"

"No, of course he's not still ignoring me!" Momoka growled, her hair spiking. "Will you just quit it with the parfaits, Tamama! Parfaits aren't going to solve Fuyuki's problems!" Once she calmed looked at Tamama's horrified expression, she felt regret for what she had said. "Ohh. I'm sorry, Tamama. I didn't mean it like _that_." She would have pat him on the head, if he physically existed on the human plane.

Tamama was sniffling. "E-Every time you insult parfaits, somewhere out there a fairy drops dead."

"You know I don't _mean_ to kill the fairies!" Momoka insisted. "I just get angry sometimes."

"It's okay." Tamama wiped away his now-dried-up tears. "Everyone knows fairies are assholes, anyway."

"…They don't exist."

"Well, yeah, 'cause you _killed_ them all, Momocchi!"

Momoka just shook her head. There was no sense reasoning with Tamama. Even so, she smiled at him. Despite his occasional disagreeability, he was still her second-best friend, right after Fuyuki. And then, when she and Fuyuki got together one day (which they definitely, most certainly would, she was sure), Tamama would be bumped up to that precious first-place position.

Tamama shuffled his feet. "Sorry that there's nothing I can do to help get Fukki and you together, Momocchi," he said to her. But after thinking a moment, a lightbulb went off in his head. "I could spy on him for you!"

"Oh—actually, that's okay," she said. Kululu would surely kill her if she let Tamama do that. She knew that Tamama felt indebted to her, though. She was getting so much information on Keroro for him, since Tamama couldn't just watch him himself. According to Tamama, other demons were still able to see him in the human plane. Tamama was too shy to talk to Keroro as himself. "I might get to spend a day outside of the area with Fuyuki soon…" she told him dreamily. "So you don't have to feel like you need to do anything for me."

"Oooh, what's the occasion?" Tamama asked all teasingly.

Momoka let out a heartfelt sigh. "It's this year's Victory Festival…. Just imagine it, Tamama! Eating food together and listening to musicians…. It will be so—"

"THE _VICTORY FESTIVAL_?!" Tamama's pupils shrunk in rage. "THAT STUPID THING IS BACK _AGAIN_?"

"Well…. Yes, Tamama. It happens every year—"

"THEY SHOULD STOP DOING IT THOUGH! BECAUSE IT'S STUPID!"

Momoka just let out a sigh. He sounded exactly like Kululu. Except with more screaming and rage and less "ku ku ku"s.

"Tamama, you should just let loose and have some fun for once!" she begged him. "You did that for me last year. Can't you do it again?"

"NO. THIS IS THE LAST TIME." She had never seen Tamama so angry. He calmed down slightly. "Those poor, dumb people don't know what they're celebrating, Momocchi!" His eyes looked very sad as he told her this. "That Victory Festival wasn't a victory for anyone but the Demon King! And they are supporting the exploitation of young children also."

"Tamama, you—"

"NO! Don't you understand, Momocchi? _You're_ one of those poor, dumb people, too! I have to—"

She send a punch right through where he would have been standing if he was on the human plane. "HOW DARE YOU CALL ME A POOR, DUMB PEOPLE! I AM A NISHIZAWA! I THINK I WOULD _KNOW_ WHAT THE VICTORY FESTIVAL IS TRYING TO CELEBRATE!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know that you were _there_ ten thousand years ago," Tamama said sarcastically, sticking his tongue out at her.

Momoka roared, but she squeezed her hands into fists and tried dreadfully to calm herself. She managed a smile. "Why don't I go talk to Keroro some more for you?"

"Oh. Okay!" Tamama agreed cheerily. He bounded off to let her go on her merry way.

* * *

"All right. I found Momoka!" Fuyuki said to himself.

Inside his head, Kululu grinded his teeth. " _Can you not?_ "

"I'm sorry, your question doesn't make sense, I am walking forward to talk to her now."

Fuyuki stopped his foot right before it hit the ground. Momoka was acting strange. It looked like she was talking to someone again. But who could she have been talking to? There was nobody there. It couldn't have been a demon. Momoka's demon was gone….

Kululu whispered something that Fuyuki just barely made out.

"Kululu!" he scolded. "What did I tell you about swearing in my head?"

" _I was quiet!_ "

"It doesn't count if you whisper it."

" _Okay, okay, I'll wait until you're asleep_ ," he promised.

That was when they heard Momoka shout, "I think I would _know_ what the Victory Festival is trying to celebrate!" and then "Why don't I go talk to Keroro some more for you?"

" _Quick, she's coming this way!_ " Kululu told him. " _Hide! Do it, or I'll hide for you!_ "

Fuyuki hid behind a corner of wall. He furrowed his eyebrows. "No," he said. "I have to talk to Momoka about this." He stepped out from behind the corner of the wall. "Momoka!"

Momoka nearly jumped right out of her socks. "F-F-F-F-F-F-Fuyuki!"

"Momoka, who were you talking to?"

Momoka glanced at him. Then she glanced behind her. She glanced at him again. "Oh dear. You were listening?"

"Well, we didn't _mean_ to, we just—"

She let out a sigh. "I suppose I should tell you, since Kululu already knows."

"What? Kululu knows?" Fuyuki said. "Kululu, why didn't you tell me?"

Kululu coughed in his head.

"Momoka, please explain," he asked her. "I really want to know what's going on."

"All right." She looked off to the side. "This area's pretty good. Usually no one comes around here, so sometimes I eat lunch here and chat with Tamama—"

"Tamama?" Fuyuki cocked an eyebrow.

"O-oh. Yes. I'm getting ahead of myself." She brushed off her mistake. "You see… Tamama… was my demon."

He stared at her pretty skeptically for a moment. "But… you demon… left."

"Yes. That's true." She nodded. "I upheld my side of the ancient contract, and so Tamama had to leave me eventually…. But we were so close, so he came back and—"

Fuyuki cut her off. "He _came back_? I—Momoka, he came back?!"

"Yes, that's what I just—"

Looking frantic, he gripped her by the shoulders. "Momoka, you have to get out of here!"

"Um… what?"

"Your demon came back!"

Momoka was so confused. Fuyuki was looking so concerned for her, but… why?

"What's so bad about Tamama coming back? We're friends now."

Fuyuki nudged a bit of tears out of the corner of his eye. "Momoka… you have to be careful. My dad's demon ended up coming back to him."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes. And so he killed himself."

"…Oh." She wasn't sure what else to say. She reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze of comfort.

" _Fuyuuuki, don't let her touch you_ ," Kululu complained. " _Don't you have any consideration for me? I have to watch this! Remember, I told you no lovesick teenage make-outs while I'm in your body!_ "

"Please hush up for a second," Fuyuki mentally requested, trying to be polite. He went back to speaking to Momoka. "I'm just worried about you. I don't want the same that happened to my dad… happen to you."

Momoka might as well have fainted right then and there. Fuyuki was worried for her! Was this a dream? It had to have been.

"Y-y-y-you shouldn't be worried for me, Fuyuki," Momoka assured him. "Tamama and I are close friends. He would never think of hurting me. He'd be too scared of me pummeling him back."

"Ah… that's a relief," he said with a laugh. The afternoon breeze felt cool on their skin as Fuyuki gazed into her eyes. "Anyway, I wanted to ask you… if you would maybe… like to spend your day at the Victory Festival with me?"

"It would be a dream," Momoka told him.

They leaned further toward each other somewhat. "So… I don't have to worry about your demon coming back and driving you to suicide because he was in love with you once and now jealous of the happy life you have without him?" Both of their voices were quiet now, almost at the level of whispers, whispers that only they could hear.

"No," said Momoka in a soft, soothing murmur, completely dripping with romantic undertones. "Tamama's… gay as hell." Delicately, she leaned forward some more.

And then Kululu took control of Fuyuki's body and pushed Momoka right off of him.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. What did I _tell_ you, Momoka?" Kululu scolded her. "No talking about Tamama! Are you TRYING to ruin our agreement?"

"You said we could smooch!" Momoka accused.

Kululu sweated. He didn't want any of that. "Fuyuki and I need to leave, right now, at this moment," he lied. He quickly started walking away from her.

Fuyuki was a little disappointed. And he wished dearly that Kululu couldn't sense it.

* * *

 **Rainbow here! I'd just like to add an author's note about how mean Runwithscissors is being! I was the one who sent the idea of them having a dunk tank booth because it would be fun, but she was like "Noooooooo" and then proceeded to bash it all this chapter.**

 **I just wanted to dunk all the characters. =( Why wouldn't she let me have my fun?**

 **Review if you think dunk tanks aren't as bad as she makes them out to be! Don't let this injustice stand!**


	9. Ten Thousand Years

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

 **So...The victory festival is on July 30th, because I am a sad sad author and wanted to give stuff to myself and July 30th is my birthday. So that's why.**

 **Anyway, here's the chapter!**

 **Sorry it might not be the greatest, I'm recovering from a cold. (Also the narrator scene, review and tell me if you got the author note joke!)**

 **(Scissors here! Amyoflove, you should skip the Dororo fight scene. It's pretty gross.)**

* * *

It had taken weeks to successfully prepare for the festival. Weeks that Kululu had ensured Fuyuki hadn't participated in, despite Fuyuki's desire to do so.

And after many grueling days of everyone preparing for the big event, the day finally arrived. The sun rose early on July 30th, signaling the start of another annual Victory Festival.

Fuyuki woke up early, for once sacrificing his desire to sleep in. He found himself surprisingly in his bed, leading him to believe Kululu hadn't been wandering around last night.

 _Maybe... Maybe he won't notice if I go..._ Fuyuki hoped. Come to think of it, what _was_ the Demon King up to? There was this weird eery silence in his head, instead of an evil bit of laughter that served as a wake-up call.

Kululu had said demons didn't need to sleep. But maybe he was taking a nap, anyway? He didn't seem to be active.

Fuyuki breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe, just once, he could be lucky. Maybe Kululu wouldn't bother him and he'd be able to enjoy this joyous day.

Like a ninja, Fuyuki tried to be subtle and sneak out of his room, down the stairs and out of the dormitories. Walking toward the outskirts of the festival, he tried to be as serene as possible without upsetting Kululu and tipping him off to his plan to go.

The morning bell rang, signaling the early morning had begin just as Fuyuki arrived at the festival gates in the middle of the city. Despite it being early, he could still see many people hustling and bustling to socialize and see the other booths. They had probably set up during the night.

Fuyuki closed his eyes. If he couldn't see, then Kululu couldn't see either! He walked forward, hoping he'd be led to something fun.

It had become normal to him for people to clear the way, knowing he was the kid with the Demon King inside of him. Nobody seemed to like Kululu and everybody (rightfully so) wanted to avoid him. But today, he seemed to be a magnet for attention.

"Hello, Mr. Demon King! Want a free sample?" someone asked.

"No! Come over to my booth, Mr. Demon King! Everything's free for you!"

"No! Pay attention to me! My booth is the best around!"

All sorts of people tried to get Fuyuki's attention, grabbing at him to pull him from place to place.

 _Usually everybody avoids Kululu like he's the plague... I didn't expect that they would like him THAT much better today,_ Fuyuki thought to himself.

"No!" He felt his hand slap someone away and recoil from their touch. "I will not see your disgusting booths!"

 _Uh-oh..._ Fuyuki realized, knowing he was no longer in control of his actions. Kululu must have wised up to his scheme.

"But... Mr. Demon King... We wanted to show you all the cool things we made. We ARE honoring YOU in this festival, after all. It's all thanks to you that this is here!" The booth venders smiled at him.

Fuyuki felt Kululu's anger falter as his facial muscles fell into a frown.

"I know." With that, Kululu turned around and started heading back for the gate that was the entrance to the festival.

And, Fuyuki knew, would also be the exit for them.

* * *

"Wait! We can't leave just yet!" Fuyuki tried to insist as Kululu walked towards the exit. He had tried so hard to get in. It couldn't be all thrown away!

He had things to do during the festival!

"Ku. Give me one good reason why we shouldn't leave," Kululu challenged, clenching his fists as he stormed closer and closer to the exit.

"I... I got to find Mom..." Fuyuki reminded her. "I have to talk to her and see her. I might be the only time this year I can see her."

"She doesn't want to see you. And she probably hasn't been let out of jail. She's not here," said Kululu. "So your reason is invalid."

Fuyuki's hopes faltered a moment. He wouldn't be able to see his mother this year, but... he still had obligations to stay. Momoka, for example.

"LOOK AT THAT!" He hoped a distraction might get Kululu to stay. If he showed Kululu how much fun the festival was, maybe Kululu would celebrate it. Fuyuki took control of his arm and pointed it in a random direction.

It managed to get Kululu's attention for a moment, as was natural. The distraction was enough to get Fuyuki to take control of the body and walk over to whatever stand he had pointed to.

"This looks fun, doesn't it? I mean, maybe you just don't like this festival because you haven't realized how fun it is!" Fuyuki honestly hoped that whatever booth he was trying to sell to Kululu was fun-looking and absolutely amazing, or else he was screwed.

"..." Kululu was silent and didn't answer. Fuyuki glanced over at what he had pointed at.

A dunk tank. Probably set up by another class at the school.

A dunk tank might actually be one of the few things Kululu would really enjoy at the festival, due to the premise being to shoot things at a lever to dunk someone. It sounded like a pretty jerky thing to do. Kululu would probably enjoy it.

Fuyuki glanced over at it, but could feel Kululu try to tug him away. A man - a teacher he recognized, who taught at the school, sat on the chair that would be dunked. He wore a mask with the letter "N" on his face and was dressed in all blue.

"Mr. Narrator!" a girl with long black hair called. Fuyuki recognized her - Yayoi, one of Natsumi's old friends before her disappearance. "Why do we have a dunk tank? It doesn't even represent anything to do with the Victory Festival!"

"Yeah, it doesn't make sense!" Satsuki, another friend of Natsumi's, informed.

"But it does make sense. You see, the true meaning of this festival, and this chapter in comparison, is wish-fulfillment of the sad author writing it. The writer desperately wanted a dunk tank, so she put one in," the narrator explained, like a bad author's note in the middle of a story. (A/N Raven dis is U)

"Huh?" They scratched their heads, very confused. "Ch-chapter?"

"What's important," he clarified. "is that dunk tanks rule."

"Oh, yeah! That's true!" they agreed, throwing away their confusion.

Fuyuki didn't listen much to them. He focused instead on Yayaoi and Satsuki. "She should have been here," he whispered, thinking of Natsumi and how left out she was that her class was going on and doing things while she was probably dead.

" _...Yeah,_ " Kululu agreed.

"Wait, what? You agree?" Fuyuki was shocked. Was Kululu offering sympathy about Natsumi's death? The festival was supposed to bring out the best in everyone, but so far it had only brought out the worst in Kululu. Was... Was there a little bit of him willing to celebrate the happiness of winning the war? "You think Natsumi deserved to be here too?"

" _Natsumi? Oh, her. Nah, forget her._ " Kululu sounded irritated.

"Hey! Don't speak ill of my sister!" Fuyuki frowned. "Natsumi... She should have been here. She deserved to be here, alive, just as much as everybody else!"

" _Oh boo-hoo, my sister's dead. Cry me a river._ " Kululu was insensitive, as always.

"Why do you have to be such a jerk, Kululu?" Fuyuki asked. "Can't you offer a little sympathy about how my sister is probably dead?"

" _Ku, ku, ku. Today's my day, apparently. It celebrates me and is about me. So we focus on me. Got it, kid? And I don't want to talk about your dead sister. I want to go home and leave this stupid festival._ " Kululu seemed like one big spoil-sport.

Fuyuki stuck out his tongue, but since Kululu was inside of him it just looked like he was randomly sticking out his tongue. Everybody gave him his privacy.

"We're not going home! I've had to put up with you for two months! You've been such an insensitive jerk, and I've put up with it, but now... Now I have to draw the line. We're going to have fun today! Because I want to have fun! And you should enjoy yourself, too! As you said, this day is something you're responsible for... You should let loose. Celebrate, Kululu!" Fuyuki smiled. "Just let yourself be fully absorbed by the day for once!"

He expected Kululu to throw a childish tantrum or something, to tell him straight up no, but instead he didn't hear anything.

Just eery silence again.

" _I am absorbed by this day better than anyone, Fuyuki_ ," he finally responded.

Fuyuki smiled. That meant that it was okay to have fun, right?

* * *

He tried to walk around and look around at the various fun booths, thinking about what he could suggest to Kululu to do to get him more in the mood for the festival.

There was a carousal, the only ride in the festival, but he assumed Kululu wouldn't enjoy riding it. He put it mentally off to the side to ride with Momoka.

"There's something!" Fuyuki remarked, seeing a craft table. He hesitantly walked over, trying to pick up his feet from the ground. Kululu was trying to keep him away from the booth, apparently, and anything that looked fun.

"Step right up, folks! Buy your very own angel doll and then we'll give you the supplies to crush 'em! You can feel like you yourself were crushing the enemies in the war!" The merchant tried to sell his wares.

Fuyuki tried to fish out some money in his pockets, but he could feel his hands getting cold. Nausea seemed to greet his stomach at the sight of the small, cheaply made straw angels being crushed. They clearly represented children.

 _The angels were monsters. So why... Why is it that I'm suddenly getting nauseous from this booth? I've never gotten nauseous from these sort of games before..._ It was pretty common to crush angel figurines as a tradition in the festival, or even get a more life-sized doll to crush body parts of your choice.

It was an event for the entire family to enjoy and something he remembered his entire family doing together fondly.

Had... Had he just grown up more and realized that the dolls being used in this particular game were clearly children, instead of enemy soldiers?

" _I don't want to be here. We're going home, Fuyuki. Right now,_ " Kululu's voice whispered in a low hush in his head.

Fuyuki turned away, afraid he'd throw up all over the stand. The unbearable nausea was too much for him.

"WAIT!" The merchant stopped Fuyuki and grabbed his shoulder before they left. "Mr. Demon King! I... I made a free one for you. You can tear off the wings for free. Look!"

Fuyuki felt his face recoil and his eyes shut tight as he heard a snapping sound of fabric as the angels wings were torn off. He felt a soft plushness fall into his hand and looked down.

A toy angel had been deposited there.

"And here's your rock. You can crush them now!" The merchant looked excited and filled with glee. "Just like you did ten thousand years ago!"

"Do it yourself. I don't like doing other people's chores," Fuyuki could hear Kululu sneer, using his voice as he threw the rock at the merchant, hitting him in the nose. Then he turned around and left, heading for the gate.

* * *

The gate was like the entrance to death. It was something Fuyuki kept finding himself in front of, thanks to Kululu. Although Kululu hadn't brought him to any near-death experiences besides Dororo, he was fairly certain he'd get a bigger and bigger following of people to try to kill him eventually.

This wasn't death, though. And crossing the gate wouldn't mean he would lose his life. No, he would lose something far more important - fun.

"No! I don't want to leave the festival yet!" Fuyuki begged, wishing he could see Kululu's leg so he could hold onto it to keep Kululu from leaving. "You said you were absorbed in the day better than most people! Why won't you just have fun?"

" _I told you time and time again, kid. I wasn't going to the festival. But what did you do when you thought I wasn't paying attention? Tried to go, anyway. We aren't going. I've never attended one of these dumb festivals before, and you won't be the host to force me to attend!_ " Kululu hissed.

Fuyuki tried not to feel bad for probably exploiting Kululu's trust. Kululu must have realized that Fuyuki was moving and just let him.

"But... Kululu..." Fuyuki tried to make a pouty face and look begging. His puppy dog eyes had no effect on someone who couldn't see his face, though.

" _We're leaving. And that's final._ " Kululu took control of the body. He started walking through the gate to leave.

"Fuyuki!" Momoka's voice yelled as she ran toward him before he could fully finish the process of leaving. Fuyuki turned to her, grabbing control of the body in Kululu's distraction.

"Momoka! Hi!" He would have waved, if his hands weren't desperately trying to pull himself away from the festival. Now he just looked like he was swimming through the air, since Kululu still had control of them.

Momoka beamed at Fuyuki, twirling around in her cutest dress which she had put on for the occasion. "Do you think I look okay?".

"Uh... yeah..." Honestly, Fuyuki was a little more focused on the internal struggle for control than on her dress. But she did look cute. He wanted to look at her, and even be a little embarrassed about their maybe-a-date-but-he-wasn't-quite-sure, but he was a little busy.

"Soooo... You wanted to tour around? Hang out today at the festival? Have the day to ourselves, just us two?" Momoka's fingers danced on Fuyuki's shoulders as she tried to be flirtatious and use her two fingers to walk up his arm, before latching herself onto his arm.

"But... Kululu's here... So I'm really never alone," Fuyuki tried to point out.

Momoka frowned. "Kululu. Remember what you said? I will make sure Tamama knows nothing of whatever you're worried about if you just let me and Fuyuki hang out," she tried to negotiate.

"You'll keep that guy away from me and keep him from gossiping about me?" Kululu seemed to stop struggling for a moment. He was still trying to get out of the festival, but was also thinking about the offer.

"And... if you let me hang out with Momoka, I promise we can leave the festival after that! We can leave and we won't go to the festival next year, either!" Fuyuki promised, trying to sweeten the deal for Kululu. He didn't know much about the Tamama thing, but it looked like Kululu needed more to convince him.

"Fine. But no smooches today. Not today," Kululu begged. Fuyuki nodded vigorously. Momoka looked disappointed.

Kululu seemed to vanish after that, retreating into the depths of Fuyuki's mind to be alone.

Fuyuki didn't care what he was up to. All that mattered was he got to have fun with Momoka.

* * *

The first thing they did together was ride the carousal. Getting on two horses, side by side, Momoka reached her hand toward Fuyuki's, as if to hold it.

 _Is...Is Momoka going to hold my hand?_ Fuyuki wondered. He blushed. Was this a completely friendly thing to do... or did this truly mean that this event was taking their relationship to the next level?

After all, if you held someone's hand you were clearly dating!

 _I suppose... starting a relationship on the day of the Victory Festival would be nice. It would be something to always remember..._ Fuyuki let his hand move closer to hers, until his hand finally slapped hers away.

"Huh?" he asked. _Kululu,_ he realized. Kululu had made sure they couldn't hold hands.

Momoka looked a bit hurt, but she didn't say anything. She instead looked away as soon as they were off the carousal, ready to pull Fuyuki to some other event.

* * *

Fuyuki sampled and ate various foods with her, all very old in style, and old demon recipes used sometimes during the war.

"Fuyuki. You got something on your cheek," Momoka noted. "I-I'll...Get that off for you." She puckered her lips as if she was going to kiss the food off.

"Nah, I'll get it." Fuyuki realized that Kululu was speaking for him. Kululu slammed his own face into a bunch of napkins. It hurt, but the thing on his cheek was taken off. "Good to go."

Momoka and Fuyuki both felt disappointed by Kululu's meddling.

* * *

Throughout the rest of their hang out session, whenever the mood got too intimate or romantic for Kululu to bear, he would ruin it in all sorts of humiliating ways for Fuyuki.

Fuyuki realized that perhaps, maybe, he didn't _want_ to be at the festival. Kululu was ruining it for him.

"Fuyuki! Fuyuki! Let's offer our wishes here!" Momoka dragged him to the next thing that she wanted to do with him.

Fuyuki realized they were in the middle of the festival, at one of the statues that stayed up all year to celebrate their victory. One of the traditions of the people were to offer good wishes and prayers to this statue and the rumor (false, but fun) was that it would be granted.

Fuyuki gazed up at the statue with Momoka. Chiseled with various different rocks like marble and limestone, it looked like a very skilled sculptor had made it. The winged angel above looked both serene and tranquil, probably because she was dying, and frightening to remind all to those passing by that she was a dangerous creature. Above her head she held a giant boulder that seemed to be crushing her under its weight, her wings breaking and the paint chipping purposefully from the pain.

Fuyuki noticed that as usually, many people were taking pictures of the frightening statue and posing in front of it to feel powerful.

"Do... Do you want to make a wish?" Momoka asked. Fuyuki continued staring at it, though.

"You know... I never really got why they all have boulders in this festival. I mean, it's a recurring carving! But why? Did they all get crushed by rocks or something? Did asteroids rain down from the sky and kill them?" Fuyuki guessed, instead focusing on asking questions.

He gazed at the statue again, not being able to keep his eyes off of the horrible creature.

"F-Fuyuki? Are you okay?" Momoka asked.

"Huh? Yeah, why?" Fuyuki asked.

"You... You're crying." She told him. Fuyuki touched his cheeks. He honestly hadn't noticed. But his cheeks were clearly wet from the liquid from his eyes.

"I... I didn't notice," he admitted.

Momoka nodded, wondering if she should pry more or leave him alone. "Anyway... If you want to brush up on your history, you should watch the play that our class is doing! I might not have gotten the role I wanted, but I'll still do great! Urgh... Darn type-casting..." Momoka growled. Then she snapped back to happiness to try to make up for her outburst. "You should watch me, okay?"

Fuyuki nodded, peeling his eyes off of the marble face of the angel. What was so transfixing about her?

"Y-yeah... Okay," he agreed, not really knowing what he was saying. He was still thinking about how confused he was about the day.

Momoka smiled. "All right, then! See you there! I should go prepare." She whizzed off, waving to him as she left. Their hang-out session may not have been the best, but it was certainly fun, despite Kululu trying to break it up.

" _Let's go, kid._ " Kululu's voice echoed in Fuyuki's head. Suddenly, he felt his eyes sticking to the ground, or anything except the angel and her boulder. Fuyuki was about to try to convince him to stay for just a little longer, but Kululu started walking toward the gate before Fuyuki could complain. " _The rest of the day is mine. You got your gross thing with Momoka today_ ," he reminded him. " _You're done_."

Fuyuki realized Kululu was right. Kululu had delivered his promise, and now Fuyuki had to leave the festival, even though he still wanted to see Momoka's play.

 _No! But I still want to have fun!_ he realized, as Kululu walked past all the booths and vendors and anything that looked even the least bit fun. He ignored everyone who talked to him.

"Wait... Let me walk. You probably don't want to put up with everybody bothering you and giving you so much positive attention, right? It's easier if I walk to the exit..." Fuyuki tried to convince him. He hoped Kululu would give up control, because if he did, than there was a chance Fuyuki could accidentally pass the play and just casually sit down and watch.

" _Fine. But only because I don't want to walk. I got more important things to do today,_ " Kululu told him. Fuyuki felt happiness greet him as he felt his own legs and walked a little slower than Kululu would have, trying not to let him figure out he was looking at the stalls.

He saw one stall that interested him - a flower shop. _Maybe I could buy some flowers for Momoka to congratulate her on doing such a nice play!_ Fuyuki thought to himself. He walked toward the flower booth. "Don't panic, Kululu. I'm just buying some flowers," Fuyuki told him, hoping Kululu would at least let him buy flowers.

" _Ku. Good idea. I call dibs. They're my flowers now,_ " said Kululu.

"Huh? What? But...I'm buying them!"

" _It's my day. And I have plans for those flowers,_ " he said. " _You've already ruined most of the day for me. I should at least get these."_

Fuyuki didn't know what Kululu's plans for the flowers entitled. Maybe testing various growth chemicals to make them sentient? He was frightened.

Fuyuki didn't agree or disagree. If he got to the flowers before Kululu did, Kululu wouldn't be able to reclaim them.

He purchased the flowers and continued onward, slowly, hoping that he could distract Kululu and let him go to the play. If Kululu saw something that interested him, perhaps he could slip in his request and catch Kululu off-guard.

He passed many booths, but none Kululu took much of an interest in. That was until a loud crowd swarmed around a very small and not well-funded booth.

"ANGELS STILL ALIVE, NEWS HAS FOUND!" Fuyuki frowned as he saw someone standing on a table that he recognized all too well, the newspaper chief Tsuki, along with his newspaper club. They must have set up a booth as a club at the festival and tried to put together something interesting to gain attention, although "interesting" did not mean the most accurate.

The thing about news was it sold its information as truth, unlike theories did, which was what Fuyuki liked more, because often they had evidence and information backing up their claims so you could choose to believe or disbelieve them.

 _Uh-oh. If Kululu sees that stall, he'll definitely think this festival sucks. They're not the best representation of fun._ They weren't the funniest of guys to be around, and always tried to upstage him. He really didn't want to get into that.

To Fuyuki's horror, he could feel his feet move closer to the stall as Kululu took control. _Crap, he heard what they were spewing! And of course as the Demon King he would be concerned!_

"Tell me more," Kululu ordered slowly. The newspaper club stood rigid. They had heard Fuyuki was currently hosting the Demon King.

"Well... Uhh... Are you Fuyuki or the Demon King?" Yama, the biggest of the members, asked.

"The Demon King. But you may call me Your Majesty," he requested. "Now. Tell me the information." His tone seemed serious.

 _They've gone over their head spewing this filth during the victory festival! Angels coming back is serious! This isn't something to fake to get more attention!_ Fuyuki realized that everyone was going to be in a world of hurt if Kululu believed them. This wasn't the sort of matter to joke about. Of course Kululu would take the threat seriously!

"Well... giant, winged creatures have been sighted flying ahead in the forests... We have some silhouetted pictures..." Yama stuttered as he handed a dark picture to Kululu.

 _THOSE ARE GIANT BIRDS, YOU IDIOTS!_ Fuyuki screamed in his own thoughts.

"And it seems very suspicious that they all died, isn't it? A few could have survived, hiding away, reproducing and becoming bigger and more powerful than ever." Tsuki raised his voice, proud of his skepticism. "I mean... I suppose you did kill them, Mr. Demon King... But how did you know you killed them _all_? I mean, today marks the ten-thousandth anniversary since their death. That sounds like the day they'd return. Doesn't it?"

Kululu didn't even correct Tsuki to call him "Your Majesty." "Ten thousand years does sound like a while for them to be inactive," he agreed to Fuyuki's shock. He rubbed his thumb across the picture of the giant winged creature. "Did you see any?" he asked.

"Uhhh..." All three were silent. "Our current theory is that perhaps the angels are in hiding, waiting for the best moment to strike! Maybe they're even looking for you to take their revenge, and when they do, they'll be coming to this town and - "

"You're absolutely right!" Kululu clapped his hands together. "They would learn about my resurrection, wouldn't they? Ku, ku, ku! I better start advertising better what town I'm in. The only way to lure them out..."

Fuyuki couldn't bare to see this. He didn't want another war on his hands! He took control.

"First of all, guys," he said firmly, "this picture is quite clearly a giant bird. Second of all, you can't just make up facts because you think it's cool! You've got no real proof that the angels are returning!" he accused, "This is serious stuff. And anyway, as the Demon King's host, I know the guy better than you do, and he wouldn't leave the job half done. He killed them good and thoroughly."

Fuyuki's rant debunking all their claims went on for a little while longer. He was quite good at disproving things from all his time on the internet. It was very important to check your sources.

By the end of Fuyuki's rant, the newspaper club was crying from being exposed, and their booth had very little attention.

"You've beaten us again, Fuyuki! But we'll get you next time!" the chief said, as if he was a minor super-villain in an anime. They packed up their booth and ran off.

"Sorry about that, Kululu... Please don't listen to them in the future," Fuyuki apologized.

Kululu sighed. " _So... It wasn't true..._ " He trailed off into more eery silence.

What was with Kululu and such eery silence? It was probably the most quiet Fuyuki had heard him ever.

He tested his arms and legs and realized slowly that he was still in charge. Perhaps he could slip off to the play?

"Fuyuki." He heard a dead-panned voice behind him instead. Turning around he saw one of his classmates, Alisa Southerncross.

"Hello," he greeted.

"You're about to miss the play," she informed him, raising her eyebrow. "Do not worry. I will lead you to it." Fuyuki sighed in relief as she grabbed him, ready to forcefully drag him.

Kululu snapped out of his silence to scream loudly throughout Fuyuki's head, " _Nooooooooooooooooo!_ "

* * *

"Kululu! Fuyuki!" Keroro waved as Alisa dropped them backstage. Apparently her demon, Nebula, could grow black dark arms that were very strong and had dragged them the whole way. "You ready for the play?"

"Well, yeah... But we're just spectating, remember?" said Fuyuki.

" _Hey, hey, hey! No, we aren't! Remember the promise you made me? We get to leave after your thing with the Nishizawa!_ " said Kululu.

"I'm sorry, Kululu. I have to break that promise. For Momoka. She really wants me to see this play." Fuyuki tried not to grin too sheepishly, gripping the flowers in his hands. Hopefully he could give her the flowers, too.

" _No. I will not sit through these historical inaccuracies!_ " Kululu refused. " _Not again... Not ever again._ "

 _Geez, how many bad plays has this guy seen of his life?_ Fuyuki wondered. "Well, you could fix those historical inaccuracies if you played yourself... I mean, that's still an option, right, Keroro?"

"Yep. But I am the understudy if you don't want to. You could always just let _me_ be the Demon King. I'd love to. I've got a great costume for it!" Keroro seemed overly excited.

" _I don't want to be here. Let's leave._ " Fuyuki could feel his heart racing.

 _Wait... The heart racing... The nauseous earlier... That wasn't me, was it? That was Kululu's emotions projecting onto my body..._ Fuyuki realized. So Kululu's heart was racing, but why?

He didn't understand, but hurried off to be seated before the play began.

He'd think about it while he was seated, and why Kululu seemed so frightened that he didn't even try to gain control of the body and was just in desperate shock.

* * *

Tamama glared at Fuyuki from afar, holding the program Momoka had given him so that he could see her performance.

"How dare he enjoy the festival!" he hissed, speaking about Kululu instead of Fuyuki. "After... After all he did!"

It was time to speak to him, to yell at him until his ears bled. He might not get another chance like this, after all.

He had finally found the Demon King.

He floated forward to confront Kululu as the curtains opened and Keroro stepped onto the stage.

"Ohh... Keroro's in this play? Well, I suppose I could afford to wait to talk to the Demon King for a little bit..." Tamama realized as he sat on some innocent bystander (there were no open chairs). "I'm sure he'll be so good!" He watched with a lovesick gaze, excited to see him act.

* * *

Fuyuki could feel his arms and legs struggling to be free.

"Be still. You would have made a fine Demon King in the play, but now you have to watch patiently." Dororo shot him a glare as the curtain opened and the main character, the heroic Demon King Kululu walked forward. Really, it was just Keroro dressed in a flamboyant outfit and crown. He really looked nothing like Kululu.

He thrusted his hips forward in a schwing-like motion for no reason except aesthetic. "I am the glorious Demon King, Kululu! Ku, ku, ku!" he laughed, "And I hate all angels because I can't let them hurt my subjects! The only one who can hurt my subjects is me!"

"Well, that sounds pretty accurate," Fuyuki whispered to himself. His heart beat eased down.

" _Geez. His portrayal of me is just disgusting. Why does he have to be constantly dancing? Are there ants in his pants? What is with him?_ " Kululu sounded offended.

"A three-way war," Keroro spoke. "Humans, demons, and angels all fighting each other. This thing is going on way too long for me to pay attention to! Eight years already is just too much time. Why did these angels have to suddenly decide to kill us and the humans?" He rubbed his shoulder. "My back aches. I want this to end. Ku, ku, ku."

"I can make it end!" Suddenly, Momoka walked onto stage, holding a piece of paper and a pen.

"A human! And not a possessed one, at that? Where did you come from? Did you sneak into our camps?" Keroro asked.

Momoka gritted her teeth. She didn't like this role. She always had to be the Nishizawa, since she was related to the Nishizawas from back then. But she didn't want to always have to write about the Nishizawa contract in essays or be a Nishizawa! It was boring.

She had tried to audition for the Messenger of Death instead, knowing that that was the role that had the most stage time with the Demon King. She had assumed Fuyuki would eventually give in and play him, but it seemed to be not so.

"I just sort of did my own thing." Momoka was a little bit bitter, so she didn't put her full effort into playing her part. "Anyway, I have a suggestion for you... We humans and demons have always hated each other, but the angels are trying to annihilate both of us. I suggest that we make a treaty and work together to kill them. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, after all."

"Then why won't you just team up with the angels to kill us?" Keroro asked. "We're your enemy, too!"

 _Because friendship!_ Fuyuki thought in his head.

Momoka looked confused for a moment. "Because they're trying to kill us, remember? You told us that! We can't just align ourselves with someone trying to kill us!"

" _Ku, ku, ku... Oh yeah, I forgot I told I told them that during the first year,_ " Kululu recalled.

"Wait... they WERE trying to kill us, right? I mean, there were several occurrences of them trying to kill us, so obviously you didn't just lie... Right...?" Fuyuki asked.

" _Yeah, they wanted to kill your race._ " Kululu admitted. Fuyuki sighed in relief that Kululu hadn't been lying.

"Oh yeah. And they are definitely trying to kill you, too. Cuz Angels are bad and evil," Keroro agreed.

"Anyway," said Momoka, "sign the contract and we'll work something out so that we can help each other and defeat our common enemy."

"Okay! Let us forge a new friendship together!" Keroro gave Momoka a handshake and then signed the document.

Fuyuki watched the rest of the play with little interest. Momoka had played her role as leader of the humans well, but that was probably the only good part to him. He knew that humanity and demons hadn't gotten along before they learned to team up against their common enemy, so none of this was news to him. He also knew the angels were trying to annihilate humankind and demonkind. It was why they were so evil.

"Throughout our ten-year war, there were many losses, and some wins. But as you all know, the real problem was that we couldn't trap the Messenger of Death, the one tasked by the angels to destroy us all. I dunno why. I don't care about angel society and why they chose them." Keroro shrugged, playing himself more than he was playing the Demon King. And whenever he spoke, he would this weird thing where he spun around and struck a pose.

"I am the messenger of death!" Dororo walked onto stage with angel wings on. Nobody else had really tried out for the Messenger of Death, because everybody hated angels, so Dororo had been forced to take it on.

" _This play is insulting on so many levels._ " Kululu seemed to be angry at how everybody was depicting not only him, but all the other races, too.

Keroro grabbed onto Dororo, and Dororo pretended to scream loudly. "You are trapped, Messenger of Death! Just remember. Do not escape!"

"Okay, I won't. Actually I'm gonna." Dororo got out of Keroro's hold. "As you can see, the demons captured the Messenger of Death, once, only for them to tragically escape."

"What's tragic is this acting!" Kululu booed.

Dororo and Keroro ignored him. They turned to face each other, along with Momoka, who stood by Keroro's side.

"Eventually, though, the finale battle drew near. All the forces on either side were tired out. Our side and their side were ready to strike," Momoka narrated to the audience.

Keroro walked forward to be in front of Dororo as wires levitated Dororo into the sky so he could be flying.

"I am the Demon King! And I will ride forth into battle to negotiate alone," he told him.

"You can not stop me! I am evil! Pure evil!" Dororo tried to give a villainous laugh. Instead it sort of sounded pathetic. "I'm going to kill everything! Because I am the most bloodthirsty of the angels!"

"You forget that, although I am the Demon King, I am also Kululu! And I am a big jerk! Ku, ku, ku!" Keroro pointed a finger at Dororo. "Psychological mind game. Wooo!~"

"AUGH! His confusingness makes me question my very being! Being sucked into his dark, disgusting aura makes me so confused about my place in the universe." Dororo fluttered around, all confused. "I'm going to kill all you demons!"

"Bet you can't kill the angels too. You're probably not powerful enough." Keroro challeneged.

"Challenge on!" Dororo responded. Confetti rained down, along with angel puppet remains as the implied Messenger of Death fell into a stupid trap to kill their own species.

 _Ah...So that's what Kululu meant by "they died from a stupid mistake." He played psychological mind games against the Messenger of Death and they made the mistake of killing their own race. Sounds like something he would do._ Slowly, everything made sense to Fuyuki.

Dororo fell down from the wires. Keroro caught him.

"I am still alive! I can't believe I fell for your disgusting trickery!" he hissed. "I guess you could destroy all the angels. Except one."

Keroro pretended to crush Dororo's bones. Dororo slinked away before he died.

"And that's how the angels died! After the Demon King Kululu tricked the Messenger of Death into obliterating their race, he then crushed them in cold blood, crushing their lungs when they went through the final struggle! However, I don't want to die so we won't show that, but anyway... Give a hand for our actors!" Dororo let people clap.

 _So the boulder represents the angels being crushed because Kululu... killed the last one in cold blood. He crushed their rib cage and lungs._ Fuyuki knew he should be terrified, but he had seen Kululu kill before, and Kululu's killing of the angel had saved humans.

Still, even though he felt that he wasn't terrified, he could feel himself shaking. Maybe he misjudged himself?

He felt himself getting up. _Wow. I must be really frightened from Kululu killing in cold blood yet again..._ Was he leaving? No, for some reason he was getting onto the stage.

He realized Kululu was in control of the body.

"Kululu. Would you like to say a few words?" Dororo asked

"You should all be ashamed at yourselves for clapping and applauding," Kululu spoke. "This play was the single stupidest thing I've ever seen. First off, Keroro did not portray me accurately. I was nothing like that and his acting was offensive as heck."

" _Kululu..._ " Fuyuki tried to gain control. Kululu was going to ruin this play for everyone! And embarrass him in the process. " _Please stop!_ "

"No. We did what you want. We'll do what I want now. You made me see this terrible, terrible play, I'll do what I want now," Kululu hissed.

Fuyuki could feel Kululu's boundless rage. He was frightened as he felt energy channel through his veins. He recognized this from when Kululu had electrocuted Keroro. Kululu was going to light the play on fire!

" _Kululu... Please leave. We can leave now... Please..._ " Fuyuki begged. Kululu was on the level of anger that he might kill someone.

Kululu got the message just before he was about to snap his fingers to make a spark of lightning appear. "Fine. We'll leave. But only because I've wanted to be alone all day."

Fuyuki felt relieved. Kululu picked the flowers off his chair.

" _Kululu...? Um... can we give those to Momoka before we leave?_ " Fuyuki asked.

"No. They're mine," Kululu hissed.

" _But, I wanted to give them to Momoka to congratulate her!_ "

"No! I don't care about yours and Momoka's relationship! No romance or happiness should be experienced this day. Because it sucks." Kululu stormed away from the festival.

Fuyuki just felt bummed.

* * *

It was a few hours until Fuyuki felt confident enough to talk to Kululu again. He had granted him the quiet time he needed to cool off from his anger toward the play. Kululu had found a nice quiet place outside of the festival on a hill and had put the flowers on the ground next to a rock.

Besides that, he was just sitting quietly. He kept complete control of the body, but just sat, rigid and quiet.

Kululu was gazing up at the sky, sometimes looking back over at the rock and centering the flowers by the rock a bit better, but that was it.

It was only then that Fuyuki decided to focus on the emotions Kululu was feeling that he realized something was astray. In his few hours alone, he hadn't had his compulsive laughter once.

Fuyuki was greeted with a face full of sadness, regret and guilt - the emotions he thought were least likely to reside in Kululu. When he focused on what Kululu was feeling, he just felt an ocean of sadness.

"Kululu... Why... Why do you hate this holiday so much?" Fuyuki finally asked. There must have been a reason if this much sadness went along with him.

"There's nothing worth celebrating. It's not a holiday at all," Kululu responded, finally speaking.

Fuyuki was quiet for a moment. "But... Why is there nothing worth celebrating in it? All the other demons seem to think it's great fun. They've never said anything against it... You're the only one who seems to dislike it." He decided to pry some more. Hopefully Kululu would decide it was time to open up.

"It's insensitive," Kululu answered again.

Fuyuki was shocked. He could partially understand some views on why it was insensitive. Angel children had died during the war when all the angels were annihilated. But _Kululu_ could tell it was insensitive? And didn't want to celebrate something due to it being insensitive? Who knew Kululu had actual emotions!

"I'm never going to the Victory Festival again. Ever. This was just as bad and painful as I thought it would be," Kululu spoke mostly to himself. "I had this day all planned out. We were going to celebrate how this thing should have been celebrated. Silently, on this hill, the whole day. To mourn. Why'd you have to ruin it?"

Fuyuki suddenly felt a wave of guilt, hearing how sad Kululu felt. _To mourn... That's right, this festival is celebrating a war... And a lot of people died during it._ Maybe it was a bit insensitive, but he had always assumed that since the other demons were okay about it, it was a fine holiday. "Why are the other demons okay celebrating it, then? They probably lost tons of friends in the war, too..." _Kululu might have lost people, too, although I hadn't thought about it before... He looks like he's in mourning._ All the sadness, all his speeches about people dying and how insensitive Fuyuki was, was just him projecting, wasn't it? "Maybe it's because their way of mourning is to celebrate the world that their friends sacrificed themselves for," Fuyuki tried to tell him. "This holiday is about celebrating demons and humans sacrifices. They might have died, but they died to help us, and they died as heroes."

"The other demons are fools," Kululu said simply. "That's why they celebrate." He obviously wasn't listening to Fuyuki's point. After a few more moments of silence, he spoke again. "Anyway, it's also insensitive to the angels. Even though there was a war between us, at the end they still all died. And we celebrate the genocide of their race? I mean, I'm not saying I'm not okay with genocide, but still... Don't you think it's a bit messed up that we crush angel children in our games?" he pointed out. "The brats were just brats. Didn't do much wrong."

"Angels were evil, though. All of them. You should know that, you fought them," Fuyuki said. But Kululu was right, a little bit. Even if a race was evil, children were children. Perhaps Kululu had regretted his decision during the war?

Kululu played with Fuyuki's ring finger. "I wonder..." he pondered. He leaned his head back and looked back up at the sky.

Kululu was silent for a few more good long minutes.

"Is... Is that a gravestone, Kululu?" Fuyuki finally asked, addressing the rock and flowers next to him.

"I suppose so." Kululu shrugged. "Can I have some quiet now?"

"Who..." Fuyuki gulped. "Whose?"

It was a few minutes until Kululu finally answered. "My wife."

Fuyuki would have let his jaw drop if he was in control of his mouth. "But... But I thought there was no Demon Queen! It's never been mentioned in the history books that you were married!"

"It didn't last very long," Kululu admitted quietly. "Now... please be quiet."

Fuyuki hadn't heard Kululu use the word please before.

 _So... that's why he's so sad. His wife died,_ Fuyuki realized. He wanted to help Kululu, though. He felt sorry for him for once. He had no idea. "You... You should move on. For her sake, and your own... I mean... It's been ten thousand years, Kululu. You can't just hate every Victory Festival that comes along. She was probably a very nice demon and died fighting against the angels... So you should celebrate her sacrifice. She'd want you to move on after ten thousand years, I think," said Fuyuki. "I mean, really you should probably just get over it by now."

"Shut up," Kululu hissed. "I'm mourning. This is my mourning day every year. You've already ruined it enough with your lovefest with Momoka. Don't bother me again. I swear, the next person who bothers me I will literally murder. Just let me mourn."

Fuyuki didn't know if Kululu could kill him, but his hiss made him frightened enough. He went silent.

Kululu leaned into the grass and continued looking at the stars, reflecting about his lost wife.

A few silent moments went by. The festival's fireworks went off in the distance, but the silence did not continue.

"Kululu... You're time is up." Kululu looked up to see Dororo standing over him. Dororo plunged his sword down onto the grass, but Kululu dodged.

Kicking the stone away so he wouldn't trip on it, Dororo faced Kululu. "You slipped off on your own. Perfect. Now I will no longer be interrupted."

Kululu just stared at him as the stone and his flowers tumbled down the hill. He brushed himself off from the grass.

"I've lost my patience with you, Dororo," he said to him. "It was fun humoring you. Making you think you might have a chance to beat me. But you've worn out your novelty."

"You'll regret saying that!" Dororo got ready to fight, darting forward. Like lightning, Kululu placed his hand over Dororo's neck, squeezing and throwing him down the hill.

"Do not bother me on the day she died. Nobody should bother me on the day she died." His words were cold, metallic, but the killing intent was clear.

Fuyuki tried to gain control, but all of the Demon King's power was flowing out of him. The realization dawned on him that a human like him never had a chance of really gaining control over Kululu.

" _AUUUGH!_ " He screamed internally as Kululu's horns burst out of Fuyuki's head, wounds opening up just so they could grow, for at least the moments Kululu wanted to use them.

The horns unwound themselves and like cord-like tentacles hooked into the ground. As they did so, the ground itself started shaking and a cloud energized above the entire festival area.

Kululu looked at Dororo and a sickening grin spread across his face.

For once, Dororo felt intense fear as Kululu walked over to him, his horns dragging behind him. The power coursing through Kululu's body was that of a god compared to Dororo. He repeatedly hurled lightning strikes at the once-immortal demon.

"You wanted me to take you on seriously, so you got it!" Kululu growled. The lightning cloud over the festival struck every festival booth that he could focus on, letting them all catch on fire and burn into pieces. Kululu let one of his horns hook out of the ground to grab onto Dororo's throat and swing him around wildly.

Dororo tried to breath, to get free, but he could do no such thing. Every time Kululu slammed him into the ground Kululu would start kicking him violently. Blood now soaked Fuyuki's entire shoe.

Dororo wondered how many of his bones were broken, or if he could hear anything besides Kululu's deranged laughter. Just "ku ku ku!" triumphantly, over and over again, as Kululu pinned Dororo's arms above him and snapped them in directions that even Dororo's flexibility couldn't permit.

Dororo limply reached toward his sword. He tried to groan, but couldn't speak, his mouth filled with his own blood from biting down on his tongue. Kululu broke the sword over his knee, as if his body was now made of metal, thanks to the Demon King's vast power. Then he threw Dororo down into the bottom of the hill, face-first into the mud, believing Dororo was at his limit and was dead.

"Kululu... Kululu, stop!" Fuyuki yelled.

"Ku, ku, ku. Stupid festival's going down. I suppose starting a fight is the only way to get banned, after all." Quickly, Kululu moved like lightning to the middle of the festival, where people were screaming from the horrid weather that was attacking them.

Kululu let his horns strike, shooting lightning at people directly or just punching people he didn't think he liked, like Natsumi would have probably done.

"I'm done pretending this is fun and games. Festival's going bye-bye!" Kululu hissed to the people cowering before him. "If nobody's going to listen to my need to be alone, I'll _make_ you listen! Ku, ku, ku!"

"Fuyuki!" Momoka, amidst the fires, ran over to Kululu and Fuyuki. She knew seeing so much death up close was probably damaging for the poor boy. "Stop this, Kululu! Please!"

"Hmmm... Momoka... Just the person I was looking for." A sly grin went over Kululu's face as his hand shot forward. He grabbed her neck and squeezed. "Do you think _you'll_ just get over it if I kill her, Fuyuki? Do you think you'll just move on?"

" _Why are you doing this?_ " Fuyuki cried, desperately trying to gain control of his body as Momoka wheezed. She was dying. But Fuyuki really never stood a chance gaining the body over the Demon King's will.

"Go through the same pain I went through. Then maybe you'll be able to let me be alone at events like these! Maybe you won't say I should move on because it's been ten thousand years! Maybe you won't be able to just get over it, like I haven't!" Kululu was completely ready to kill her to prove a point.

Fuyuki was terrified. He needed some way to negotiate, to convince Kululu to spare her.

" _It might prove things to me, but would it prove it to you?_ " Fuyuki asked. " _Killing Momoka won't bring your wife back, Kululu. It won't make any difference. Your wife is still dead_." The words seemed to shock Kululu enough for a moment. He let Momoka go and she crawled away from Kululu, for the first time looking at Fuyuki in fear.

Fuyuki hated to see her like that.

" _Give the body to me, Kululu. Rest,_ " he tried to whisper. Kululu relinquished the body to him. The horns slithered back inside Fuyuki's body, disappearing as if they were never there, but still leaving bruises. "I'm me," he smiled at Momoka.

But she only continued looking at Fuyuki in horror. Everyone was

It started raining and everybody hid behind the wreckage of their stalls from Fuyuki.

Outside of town, Dororo groaned, completely bruised and battered, at near death, his face in the mud. He had overestimated his abilities and underestimated Kululu's. He couldn't think about that now, though.

Instead he blacked out, hoping he wouldn't drown in the rain and mud.

* * *

 **Dunk tank returned...yesss.**

 **Please review.**

 **(Don't worry, Dororo's alive)**


	10. The Tech Fair

**Uhhhh I don't know what to write for the author's note.**

 **-Scissors**

* * *

It had been two weeks since the destruction of the festival, and the main town outside of Fuyuki's schooling area was still recovering from the shock of it all. He hadn't been to school in that time. Nobody would allow him. They quarantined him in his dorm room for half a month, disallowing him from venturing out of it.

Since then, people had been delivering various mechanical parts and materials to Kululu, undoubtedly in fear of him and of what he would do if they didn't pledge their loyalty somehow. Honestly, Fuyuki couldn't blame them, after all that Kululu had done. He heard from various brave visitors that Dororo was in the hospital, still recovering from all his broken limbs, several broken ribs, internal abdominal bleeding, a concussion, and brutal though not life-threatening third-degree electrical burns due to Kululu's lightning. Basically, he'd be out for a while, they told him. Apparently, paramedics had just found him in time, since they were already in the area to treat all those other people Kululu had injured, Momoka included.

Fuyuki felt so much shame and regret for everyone else who'd been injured at the festival. He heard on the news that a couple fatalities had even been recorded. And the whole town was trashed. It was supposed to be a joyful celebration, but instead the Demon King had to turn it around by deciding that was the day he'd exert his full power over everyone.

 _This is all my fault_ , he had been telling himself since then. If he'd just listened to Kululu and left the festival, maybe none of this would have happened. Maybe no one would have gotten hurt or killed.

Fuyuki was suffering from his own injuries, too. When Kululu had finally staggered back to Fuyuki's dorm room at about two in the morning, he found the nearest garbage can and emptied the contents of Fuyuki's stomach into it. "That was the most power I've used in a while," Kululu said cheerily, still shaking a bit from bodily convulsions.

All that pent-up anxiety and nausea must have taken a toll on the both of them.

Fuyuki hadn't gotten to sleep that night, because he soon discovered another issue, too. The space just above his ears, where Kululu's horns had somehow uncoiled and burst out from, was throbbing like mad. The skin hadn't completely grown back, and although it was starting to scab over, blood and puss continued to ooze out from the small circular areas. The whole ordeal had shocked Fuyuki a great amount because he had never before heard of demons being able to use their horns in their host bodies, and he had never healed so quickly in his life from a puncture wound. Was this a normal thing to happen? He didn't know and he wasn't going to ask Kululu to find out, because he hadn't talked to him since the horrible events that happened that day. He just wrapped a bandage around the head wound and left Kululu to his own devices.

For nearly two weeks now Fuyuki had stayed dormant in his own mind. He didn't pay attention to what Kululu was doing in that time. Stuffing his face with curry and making various inventions, he could guess vaguely. For the most part Fuyuki drowned himself in his own misery and woes.

He replayed the memories of the town being trashed in his mind, counting injury after injury. _One… two… three… four… five…_ So many people. _Forty-three… forty-four… forty-five…_ It was like counting sheep. Would have worked, too, if Fuyuki had been able to sleep soundly in the past two weeks. It wasn't that Kululu didn't let him—he actually did—it was rather that he was _unable_. For at least the first two days, Fuyuki didn't get a wink of sleep. After he started getting dizzy and seeing things that weren't there, however, Kululu forced him to sleep using some of those weird demon abilities he had. Since then, all he'd gotten was nightmares of the festival. He guessed that everyone else was having similar problems.

" _Kululu, I want to go out_ ," he finally brought up one day. He wanted to lay in the sun and catch up with his friends. He wanted to frolic in the fields and taste something other than curry in his mouth. It had been half a month already, so quarantine was over and the guards were no longer stationed around Fuyuki's room, but Kululu seemed busy working on something.

"Why? Ku ku ku. We got everything we need here," said Kululu. "Besides, kid, nobody wants to see your face anymore. You trashed their festival."

" _YOU trashed their festival!_ " Fuyuki shouted.

"Well… yes, but they'll always remember your face when they think back on it." Kululu gave another deep, sadistic chuckle. As if Fuyuki NEEDED a reminder of why he hated this guy. He had already made his life miserable enough—why'd he have to go and hurt so many people now, too?

" _This is wrong_ ," he said. " _People are still in the hospital because of you. I'm not going to sit here any longer and do nothing about it. I want to apologize to Momoka, at least_ …."

"Peh. All those people deserved it, ku ku ku."

" _No more Victory Festivals for you, that's for sure_ ," Fuyuki muttered to himself. How was it possible for one guy to be so bitter? " _Come on. You've had the body long enough. I have to make things right again_."

Kululu ignored him, tinkering with a few materials on the ground to create some sort of large contraption with wheels like a bike, only much thicker.

" _Kululu? Please! I need to talk to Momoka!_ " Fuyuki pleaded.

"Busy. And she ain't gonna want to talk to you, anyway."

" _PLEEEEEEEAAAAASE!_ "

"Ugh. All right, all right. Stop whining already! Let's just get this over with." Kululu stood up and, with much distaste, handed control of the body over to Fuyuki. " _Take us to Momoka. No smooching, though. And afterward, I'm heading out to find another workplace_."

"Workplace?" asked Fuyuki. "For what?"

" _For inventing things, duh! I haven't been able to create nearly enough contraptions during your quarantine, what with these limited space and materials_."

"During YOUR quarantine," Fuyuki corrected.

" _They can't lock up the Demon King! Ku ku ku. Anyway, I'll find a place, and move all my stuff there with the teleporter that I used to transport all your stuff earlier on_."

Fuyuki sighed. It was as good as he could get.

He headed over to Momoka's dorm and knocked on her door, excited to see her again after two weeks of doing absolutely nothing. "Yes, come in!" called Momoka's voice from within. Cheerfully, Fuyuki opened the door wide and stepped into the room.

"Momoka, hi—" He paused when he noticed that something was off.

Momoka had frozen up at the sight of him.

"M-Momoka?" He reached his hand out to her, and she instinctively shrunk away, hugging her arms closer to her chest as if to become smaller and protect herself.

"Fuyuki, I…. M-maybe you should go…" she told him in a quiet, quivering voice. Her eyes darted away from him.

"Momoka, what's wrong? It's me…. Fuyuki…."

She turned away from him now, refusing to even face him. "I—I don't know if I can…." Her voice wavered, as if she was fighting back tears.

"Momoka—" Without meaning to, he raised his voice. She jumped and covered her face with her arms.

" _Ku. Just as I thought. Kind of reminds you of how your mother treated you, doesn't it?_ "

"Wha…What's going on?" Fuyuki asked Kululu. "Why is Momoka acting like she's afraid of me?"

And then it all came back to him.

 _"Hmmm... Momoka... Just the person I was looking for." A sly grin went over Kululu's face as his hand shot forward. He grabbed her neck and squeezed. "Do you think_ _you'll_ _just get over it if I kill her, Fuyuki? Do you think you'll just move on?"_

 _"_ Why are you doing this? _" Fuyuki cried, desperately trying to gain control of his body as Momoka wheezed. She was dying._

 _"Go through the same pain I went through. Maybe you won't be able to just get over it, like I haven't!" Kululu was completely ready to kill her to prove a point._

 _"_ It might prove things to me, but would it prove it to you? _" Fuyuki asked. "_ Killing Momoka won't bring your wife back, Kululu. It won't make any difference. Your wife is still dead _." Kululu let Momoka go and she crawled away from him, for the first time looking at Fuyuki in fear._

 _"_ Give the body to me, Kululu. Rest, _" he tried to whisper. Kululu relinquished the body to him. "I'm me," he smiled at Momoka._

 _But she only continued looking at Fuyuki in horror._

"Kululu…. You…." Rage boiled up inside Fuyuki. His face became masked with anger—a horrifying sight indeed. This was what Momoka saw. She shrunk back, shivering, as hatred for Kululu overcame Fuyuki. But he calmed down when he saw her reaction to his emotions. "Momoka! It's not like that," he desperately tried to tell her. "I won't hurt you like Kululu did. I would _never_ hurt you. Not me," he promised. "Please, Momoka…. You're my best friend…. You truly are."

"Please! Just get away!" Momoka pleaded. Taken aback, Fuyuki had no choice but to leave her alone.

After he shut the door behind him, he sat against the wall and stuffed his face in the sleeves of his shirt, trying desperately not to cry. Momoka was afraid of him. He'd never imagine this was possible. She was his best friend! She was always there for him. Now, he couldn't even be there for her.

He couldn't hold in the tears for very long. When they did came out, they were strained, making his sobs sound like a cross between a devastated child and the un-oiled brakes of a bike screeching to a halt. As he bawled, he confronted Kululu in his head.

"Why? Why would you do that? Why would you try to kill Momoka just to prove a point?"

" _Guess I just wasn't thinking_ ," Kululu admitted with a nervous chuckle. " _I REALLY didn't want to be at that festival_."

"That's no excuse!" Fuyuki chastised. "I'm not going to stand for your antics any longer, Kululu. Because you know what? Not everything is about you. Nobody cares if you had somebody who died ten millennia ago. There are still people today who have people, who care about them, and who are actually LIVING! It was ten thousand years ago and no one is going to stop the world for your pity party OR your tantrums!"

The effect was immediate. Fuyuki could feel the power surge within him, the same sort of power he had felt two weeks ago. The immense power of the Demon King. " _Oh, you'll regret saying that,_ " Kululu warned him. Fuyuki was curious. What could he do to him? They were sharing the same body. Anything Kululu did to him, he would have to suffer the consequence of, as well.

All of a sudden, he felt himself getting sucked into the depths of his mind, into that strange realm where only Kululu and he were. Kululu stood before him, the power surging through his horns and hands. Now Fuyuki felt none of that power. Now he actually did feel a bit frightened. Kululu had already hurt Momoka once. When he was done with Fuyuki, would he just do it again? Fuyuki realized, with much regret, that perhaps what he had said wasn't the smartest thing to do.

With a deep sigh, he swallowed his pride. "Listen. I'm sorry," he tried to tell him.

"Kuu ku ku ku." The gleam in Kululu's glasses only caused him to look more intimidating. "Coincidence how you say that only _after_ you realized I'm going to kill you."

"No, I mean it," said Fuyuki. "I said the wrong thing. What I meant to say was… think of your wife. Would she really want you to be wallowing in misery like this for all eternity?"

"She's _dead_ ," Kululu reminded him.

"But would she want this? If she was still alive. Or if she was watching over you somehow, like as a spirit or whatever."

This did seem to get Kululu's attention. He stopped for a moment, and the glowing energy surging from his hands and horns dimmed down substantially.

"Rather than drowning in your sorrows, maybe you should find a way to honor your wife's death," Fuyuki suggested. "Wasn't it you who told me that if someone loves you so much that they sacrifice themselves just so you can live, you have to live with that sacrifice forever and make the best of it? Because your life is the symbol of their love?"

Kululu gave Fuyuki a very surprised look.

"Since your wife and so many others fought and sacrificed themselves for the war?"

"Oh. You're right." Kululu cleared his throat. "I suppose that _is_ what I said." He ran his hand through his purple hair and breathed out a sigh. "Maybe…. You…." He shook his head. "Leave. Let me think."

Fuyuki was glad that he wasn't going to die. That was a big relief. It seemed every day he got a little bit closer to his death date, with a guy like Kululu around.

He poofed out of Mind Realm and was able to get out of the school for the first time in weeks.

* * *

Dororo groaned in the bed he was in. How long had he been out? He had no idea. He hadn't any recollection of what he'd been through, either. Foolishly, he attempted to sit up. Pain stabbed at his body from every angle. He fell down against the bed again.

When his eyes focused, he took in his surroundings. It looked like he was in a hospital.

 _But… if I'm in a hospital_ , he thought, _where are all the doctors and nurses? Where are all the tubes and ventilators and medications? Where is anything?_

At least he seemed to have been given _some_ treatment. He was awed. He had never felt this much pain before in his life. He might as well have been a mummy with all the bandages he had wrapped around him. He knew he still had several broken ribs, that was for sure, and his legs were set in casts. He couldn't feel anything on his back. His shoulders and upper arms had completely swelled from so much dislocation, and he felt as if he couldn't move his left arm. His right, however, seemed to be working normally. Everything still seemed a bit dizzy to him—his head must have been badly bruised. And his antlers….

His antlers!

Dororo realized just then where he was. He wasn't in any hospital, he was in a _human_ hospital. As a mortal demon. Which meant that they had seen his antlers.

 _I should have known_ , he realized bitterly. _Humans hate us demons. Natural that they would. But couldn't they tell I was dying? Couldn't they have spared me just a little bit more than the bare minimum for treatment of someone in my condition?_

He knew what would happen next. Death would claim his body—it was inevitable. But if the humans weren't going to give him any more treatment, at least they could grant his one last request.

"You there." In a cracked voice, he called for one of the nurses passing by. "I need something…. Please get me an envelope, a pen, and paper."

The nurse, although startled by his antlers, hastily nodded and returned a little while later with the things he asked for. Dororo wrote quickly with his one good hand.

 _Dear Koyuki_ , he began. _I am so sorry that I must bring this news to you. But I fear I am dying. In my last moments, I have something to confess. I have lied to you. Instead of coming out here to meet a friend, I had actually intended to assassinate the Demon King himself. But he is too powerful for me. He has maimed my body past the point of repair. Who knows if I shall ever be able to walk again. This human hospital has seen that I am a demon and so they refrain from treating me properly… so I see no other possibility than my death._

 _Please, Koyuki, take care. Our days together, though short, are my most precious memories, and I will cherish them until my last moment on this plane._

 _Dororo_

He folded the letter, slipped it in the envelope, and handed it back to the nurse. "Deliver that to the post officer, Meruru," he directed. "She'll know what to do."

The nurse nodded and left the room. Dororo wished that it would be fall into good hands.

* * *

When Meruru did receive the letter, she didn't seem too surprised that it had no addresse, instead simply being addressed "to the Lady Koyuki who lives in the forest."

She sighed. "Not another one of these."

To the first traveler she saw, she gave the letter. "You look like you're going out to the forest. Here, take this letter with you and try to find a kid named Koyuki. Thank you! Hope your trip is safe."

The traveler looked confused but accepted the challenge nevertheless, because Meruru also paid him.

* * *

 _Yes… Fuyuki's got a point, and a good one, at that_ , Kululu thought to himself.

The war was ten thousand years ago. It was a bad habit of his to be revisiting so many bad memories, and a bad habit to still be so miserable. His wife hadn't died so he could be miserable. _Perhaps I should move on,_ Kululu considered. _This has been controlling me, hindering me, for ten thousand years…. Perhaps it is time that I finally stop wallowing in my misery. It would be pathetic if she saw me like this. This isn't what she died for._ She died so he could live on—without her, yes, but she knew he'd be strong about it. Well, she thought he'd be strong about it. Because that is what you do when you love someone: You give them up, even when you know you can't be with them any more, but can find a way to keep them safe.

He felt like a fool for realizing this only after ten thousand years.

But now he knew exactly what to do with his life.

* * *

It was the next day when a doctor finally came to see him.

"Oh! Good. It looks like you're awake." The doctor gave him a bright smile. "Dororo, was it? It's nice to meet you. I'll be your new doctor."

 _New doctor?_ thought Dororo. _Did I even have a doctor to begin with?_

"Let's see what's on your list of injuries…. Ooh…. This doesn't look good at all." She tsk-tsked him. "Fractured ribs, concussion, third-degree burns, dislocation in a number of places, it looks like… What happened to you?"

"The festival," he answered simply.

"Oh dear." His doctor seemed sympathetic. "I heard all about what happened. It's absolutely devastating. But I haven't had anyone _nearly_ as bad as you yet."

"Wait… so… you can help me?" Dororo's voice was hoarse, so he rephrased. "You're _going_ to help me? Even though…"

She glanced up for a moment at his antlers, then back to Dororo's eyes. "A doctor does what a doctor has to do," she told him with a hint of a sly smile. "Now, just let me get a syringe."

She picked up a syringe from off the table she had rolled in. It was quite large. Dororo wasn't one to be afraid of needles but this one was a different story entirely. How was she even going to fit it in him? He couldn't possibly watch this.

"If you could just give me your arm," she asked.

Dororo surrendered his arm fearfully. This was much more terrifying than anything Kululu had done to him. Wait a second…. He glanced back into the syringe. "There's nothing in there!" he realized.

The doctor just put a finger to her lips to shush him. "You gotta put your faith in us doctors, Zeroro, or else we can't heal you up!"

Dororo paled. How did she know his name? But as the doctor began healing him with some sort of aura that she had growing off of her, Dororo realized at once who she was. He'd recognize that demon power anywhere.

"…Pururu?"

She smiled. "Bingo."

Dororo sighed with relief. "Thank goodness there are some other demons here…. I guess I'm not so alone, after all."

It had been a while since he'd seen a demon living independently in the human realm. Usually they stayed hidden, and for a good reason. He decided to temporarily put his morals aside so he could just focus on healing. Before he even knew it, he'd be able to go back to Koyuki and apologize about this whole—

Wait! Koyuki!

Dororo sweated, remembering the letter. What would he do _now_?

* * *

Fuyuki has sneaked out of school campus and was now wandering the streets of town. It was severely illegal, sure, but what could the authorities do? He had a Demon King in him.

The place was a dump. Even after two weeks of intense repairs, the harsh fire and hurricane damage remained evident and prevailing. Not only that, but all the townspeople kept avoiding him, too. One look at Fuyuki and poof! They had darted behind something to hide themselves. Kululu had been right. Fuyuki was a monster in their eyes.

Fuyuki wished there was some way he could help the town after all Kululu did. If there was a way he could redeem himself in their eyes. But with Kululu around, he knew that dream had a zero chance of happening.

Until Kululu took control of the body. "Look at this place. Ku ku ku. What a dump!" he said aloud.

The townspeople, recognizing the laughter as the Demon King's, quickly hid away.

" _You were the one who trashed it, remember?_ " said Fuyuki with a deep frown.

"I know. And what a great job I did." Then he gave a shrug. "Ah, but how will I ever trash it _again_ if it's in such a state?" he lamented. "We must repair this place at once."

" _There's nothing to repair it with!_ " Fuyuki told him. " _Everyone's been avoiding this town since you razed it. It'll be eons till it looks like it did three weeks ago!_ "

"Simple solution to that." Kululu put Fuyuki's hands on his hips. "All we need to do… is just bring people back!"

" _Um… why would you want to do THAT? You're Kululu_."

"Great question, Fuyuki. It's because I'm bored and I have inventions lying around and nothing better to do with them. So I might as well show them off." He went up to the first townsperson he saw and said to them, "You there. Your town is going to have a technology fair in one week. Make this place shine before then. Well… do the best you can. It doesn't have to be _perfect_."

 _Why is he doing this?_ Fuyuki wondered. _What's with the change of heart? It couldn't…. It couldn't be what I said, could it? At least this will be good for the town._

"And where's your mayor?"

"Um, she's in the town hall," the townsperson told him, still frightened but a bit confused.

"Perfect." Kululu grinned and set off to seek the mayor. He walked right past the doors and into her office. "Hey you," he barked. "Your town is going to have a technology fair a week from now, ku ku ku. Put on by your truly, the Demon King."

"Well, it's about time," said the mayor with a roll of her eyes. She no longer seemed too thrilled at his presence after the destruction of her town. "But what's your motive, Demon King?"

"I prefer to be called 'your highness.' "

"What's your motive, your highness?" she corrected herself. "You devastate our town, and decide two weeks later that you want people to flock to it. What is the meaning behind all this?"

"The meaning?" Kululu looked offended that she should even suggest such a thing. "I'm bored! What more meaning do you need? Now advertize this event, or else."

The mayor let out a small scoff when he left the room. But she did make a few calls on her phone to inform the other towns.

* * *

A week from then, the town didn't really look all that much better, but Fuyuki was surprised to see how many people had showed up to the thing. He didn't think he had ever seen so many people together in his life! Well, not since the Victory Festival. But he would rather not think about that.

He had also been surprised that no one had tried to stop Kululu and Fuyuki from leaving school grounds. Once the news of the technology fair had rolled off Kululu's (well, Fuyuki's) tongue, school staff seemed more than thrilled to let them leave.

Kululu and Fuyuki had come early to the event to set up, but they didn't need to do much.

"Teleporter," was all Kululu had said as he held up a strange sort of gun. He shot it down at a spot on the ground and the various contraptions he had been building in Fuyuki's room appeared, ranging from kooky-looking weapons and bikes to strange bottles of liquid to large glass cylinders, big enough for a person to step into.

Fuyuki looked around at other booths, vendors, and stations. So many people had come to this event—so many important scientists, too. He recognized a number of people on TV, all with their individual creations and showcases. He had never seen so much technology in one place before.

Fuyuki began to sweat. He hadn't realized how nervous he was. Never before had he dreamed he might get to see all these famous people in person. But now that he had the Demon King residing in him, anything was possible, he supposed.

At the center of the fair, there was a large attention-grabbing stage decorated in banners and large image displayers, in which stood a tall blue-haired man and woman. Behind them was a pink helicopter with the acronym "NPG" on the side of it. Fuyuki felt like he recognized the logo somewhere, but wasn't sure where he'd seen it before.

"Oh, gross," Kululu spat as he spotted the stage and all the people crowding around it. "They're going to do this all formally? I'm not going up there!"

" _You have to, Kululu_ ," Fuyuki insisted. " _You've been in front of large crowds of people before, right? I mean, you ARE the Demon King_."

"What, you think I haven't done that before?" he said venomously. "They have this whole sappy routine that they do. 'Blah blah blah, a new era of technology will finally be upon us….' All that lame stuff."

Still, Kululu watched closely as more and more people crowded around the center stage.

"Whatever. I'm just going to set up a video transmitter over here," he told no one in particular. "Walking up there would be too much work."

Fuyuki watched in amazement as Kululu, like usual, was able to create something so advanced in mere minutes—and just from scrap machine parts!

"Humans and demons alike," a voice boomed from the center stage. The blue-haired man was speaking through a microphone to the crowd of people. "We are proud to announce that a new era of technology will finally be upon us! It is our hope that today, at this gathering of scientists, students, businesses, and everyone else, we will be able to put the past behind us and keep moving forward into a new tomorrow!"

 _Put the past behind us?_ Fuyuki repeated in his head. _Does he mean, try to forgive Kululu for all the awful things he did during the Victory Festival?_

"Now, if you can all please welcome the one who put this all together… which, ahem, we are very grateful for… the Demon King Kululu!"

All of a sudden, Fuyuki saw his face appear on the large screen overhanging the center stage. _Am I on TV?_ he wondered.

"Ku ku ku," Kululu laughed in Fuyuki's body. "I'd like to see what all you losers have started calling 'inventions' and 'scientific discoveries' these days. I've lived several thousands of years, and lemme tell ya, I've seen some pretty impressive stuff throughout that time. Wonder if this one will be any different? Kuuu, ku ku ku ku ku." With that, the video on the screen shut off, and Fuyuki was no longer on TV.

 _Of course he would have to do something jerky,_ thought Fuyuki. _It's just like him to challenge everyone here! So he can stoke his own ego!_

Kululu huffed out a sigh and looked about his inventions. "Shouldn't be too long till people start flocking over," he decided. "Might as well make some new inventions while I'm at it, though. Any ideas, Fuyuki?"

" _Me?_ " Fuyuki was surprised. He hadn't expected Kululu would ask for his cooperation! Besides, he didn't even have any ideas for an invention. " _I'm not one for inventions. I actually enjoy the 'discovery' part of science a lot more._ "

"Well, you can't discover much without the proper tools, ku ku ku." Kululu sat down and tinkered with a couple of objects. "Ya gotta give it more thought than that, kid. What do you _want_ to discover?"

" _Aliens!_ " Fuyuki answered immediately, falling for Kululu's tactic. " _And dinosaurs! And deep sea creatures! And new monsters!_ " He paused and chewed on that last thought a bit. " _Come to think of it, we still don't know much about all the monsters here._ " He laughed. " _Tsuki even mistook a giant bird for an angel! Don't you think that says something about our lack of knowledge regarding monsters?_ "

"Eh. I suppose so," Kululu said, trying to get Fuyuki to continue.

" _So… maybe… what we really need is…_ " Mentally, his eyes lit up. " _An organic camera! N-no, no, wait. I got it. A camera that grows into some sort of camouflage, like a tree, and waits for a monster to come by…. And then it latches itself onto the monster's head and follows it everywhere it goes, documenting its strange and unknown monster behavior!_ "

Once Fuyuki shared the idea, he instantly felt like a fool. It was completely impractical. Kululu would laugh at him for sure. He waiting, bracing himself for the chuckling.

But Kululu just grinned. "See, that's the kind of creativity I was waiting for."

 _What?_ Fuyuki thought. _But that was the silliest idea ever!_

"With those kind of ideas, you'd probably make your way into the world of science just fine, even if you are a total dork," Kululu encouraged him.

 _That's… the closest thing to a compliment he's ever said to me,_ Fuyuki realized. Why was he doing this? Why was Kululu acting this way? It was so strange and unreal, it was almost unbelievable.

Even so, Kululu genuinely seemed to take interest in the device Fuyuki had suggested. He just needed the parts to build it. As the crowds of people rolled by, Fuyuki watched the fascinating process occur before him. Kululu would showcase his inventions, and then ask for bids from the crowd. But the bids weren't in money—what people bid away were machine parts, strange materials, inventions of their own, or a combination of all three. When someone came up with the most tempting offer, Kululu would trade his invention with the person and take their bid in return. If they gave him an invention, he would inspect it and decide whether he liked it. If he liked it, he would document how the thing worked and what materials it used, and then take it apart. If he didn't like it, he would go straight to taking it apart.

Eventually, through this practice, he was able to come up with all the materials he needed to make Fuyuki's strange monster-tracking device.

" _Aren't you afraid of people taking your invention and passing it off as their own?_ " Fuyuki asked him at some point.

Kululu returned with a shrug. "Sometimes they do. But all _my_ inventions, their prototypes, have my spiral insignia on it, ku ku ku! So it would be pretty ridiculous of them to pass it off as their own." He chuckled at the thought. "Sometimes they do rebuild the invention, though, and sell it as their own. I don't really care. How else do you expect these poor, pathetic humans to advance their technology, anyway, without _my_ help? Ku ku ku! They're not smart enough to find ways to travel, so instead they have to rely on me. For everything. I don't mind." He seemed to rather enjoy having humans eat from his hands. "And anyway, I can't _stand_ primitive technology. I just have to update it whenever I see it. It's somewhat of a habit."

 _So that's why his inventions are so important,_ thought Fuyuki. _They truly do bring about a new era of technology. He gives people his inventions, and in return, he's allowed to limitlessly pursue his hobby. He doesn't even seem to mind that he's helping people! Fascinating._

Kululu was still tinkering with materials, bringing Fuyuki's idea to life. It was so strange to watch the process unfold in his own hands.

 _I wonder, what does he think about when he's inventing?_ thought Fuyuki. He tried to look deep into Kululu's thoughts, searching for the core of his emotions. Whether it was foolishness or plain curiosity, he didn't particularly care.

In time, he felt Kululu's emotions wash over him like a river. Enjoyment. Nostalgia. Self-righteousness. A touch of loneliness. A drip or two of altruistic sentiment. Oddly, he caught strong whiff of sorrow. But Fuyuki didn't particularly want to learn about Kululu's emotions. He just wanted to know his thoughts. Realizing it would be low to snoop this way, he decided to ask outright.

" _Kululu, what are you thinking about right now?_ "

"Hm?" the question seemed to catch him a bit off-guard. "I—I'm not sure. I just… do things. I don't really think about anything."

" _You must be thinking about something_ ," Fuyuki pressed.

"I'm not thinking of anything," he claimed. "I just enjoy technology fairs."

Fuyuki sensed there was more behind it, though. He had a small thought that nagged him at the back of his head, and he knew it would be wrong to ask such a personal subject. But he did. " _So did you, um…. Did you ever go to any with your wife?_ "

Kululu was silent a moment. Then he confessed, "Yes. I actually met her at one." He smiled a bit, fond of the memory. "She loved technology and so did I, so… we went to them often."

" _Really?_ " Fuyuki was surprised. How often? he wanted to ask. And how? They couldn't have had many technology fairs in the demon realm. Unless…. " _She wasn't a human, was she?_ "

"A human?" Kululu scoffed at the idea. "I have higher standards than that. Running off with a human! How stupid do you have to be! And kid, do you _know_ just how short a human's lifespan is?"

" _Hey! I'M a human_ ," Fuyuki reminded him. But he had suspected she wasn't a human. All the demons probably wouldn't have liked to have a human Demon Queen. That would have just been plain contradictory. " _So… what was she like?_ "

Kululu twisted Fuyuki's mouth off to the side, thinking of what words to choose. "An idealist," he finally decided.

Fuyuki frowned. " _That doesn't sound anything like someone you'd_ —"

"Oversensitive," he continued. "Overcompassionate. Overcaring. Overrighteous. Maybe a bit underrighteous, too."

" _Yeah… now you're just making up words_ —"

"But also… she was the best friend I've ever had," he finally said. "Really spoke my language. Not the worst sense of humor, either." He paused. "Now I've told you too much, so I'll have to kill you."

This took Fuyuki completely by surprise. " _Wh—WHAT?_ "

"I'm joking! I'm joking." Kululu started laughing his head off. After about half a minute, though, his laughter began to fade. "Really wish she could have been here today," he said, mostly to himself. He shook away the thought. "But you don't want to hear any more about my wife. The past is the past and, well, I suppose you might have been right. I need to move on."

 _Well that didn't take long at all,_ Fuyuki thought sarcastically. "You know you just said that out loud, right?"

Kululu raised his eyebrows, a bit surprised at his own mistake. "W-well, it's no big deal," he tried to dismiss. "No one even _heard_ —"

"Kululu."

He froze up. Then he slowly peered upward at who was standing. His eyes narrowed, recognizing the face (for once). "Thought I killed you, Dororo."

"Yes, you might as well have," Dororo said before them. "And I still remain in disbelief for what you had done to me. To the festival as well…. It is dishonorable and immoral."

"Peh. You think I care about stuff like honor and morality?" Kululu threw back.

Thinking about Dororo, a strange sort of anger took hold of Fuyuki all of a sudden. He gained control of the body and stood up.

"If you came here to pick a fight with Kululu, you can think again," he told him.

Within his head, Kululu was surprised at the boy's forthrightness. " _F-Fuyuki?_ "

"I know that you hold a grudge toward Kululu, but let's face it, everybody does." Fuyuki frowned at him. "Killing him wouldn't solve anything. Just look around here—look at all the people he's helping with his technology. He's not doing it to make money. He's just doing it for the sake of creating things. For the sake of bettering the world. If you kill him," Fuyuki said with narrowed eyes, "you would end all that."

Dororo fell quiet, listening to Fuyuki's words.

"Yes, Kululu might have messed up the town," Fuyuki acknowledged. He gestured to the crowds of people. "But look at how many people are here today! Look at how many newcomers and visitors are bringing supplies to help out! This place will be fixed in no time. Mistakes can be mended.

"Remember how I tried to prove to you that Kululu wasn't just all evil, so that you could give him a second chance?" Fuyuki went on. "I guess you'll never quite know the things I know. Because today, I've learned more about Kululu than I ever have before in any of your history lessons. Or anyone else's. I've learned that he does have human emotions."

" _I'm a demon!_ " Kululu protested, not quite understanding.

"You can't kill him," Fuyuki finished.

With a sigh, Dororo took the sword off his back and tossed it to the ground at Fuyuki's feet. "I have no more motive to fight you, Kululu."

 _"Because I can snap him like a twig?"_ Kululu guessed.

"Originally I had realized, during the Victory Festival, that what I was doing was dangerous and not worth the outcome. I am just one person, and I could not even lay a scratch on him. I am smart enough to know when my work is futile," Dororo explained. "So after fully healing from the hospital, I've decided to return to a friend I met." He needed to see Koyuki again, to tell her that his letter was actually a lie.

Fuyuki was a bit disappointed that all he said was for nothing.

"However"—Fuyuki's eyes lit up and he looked up at Dororo, who smiled softly.—"I can see now how many people are being helped right now. And I can see that some bonds are too powerful for me to break." He looked at Fuyuki when he said this. "Please, Kululu. Fuyuki is a good boy. If you have any sliver of morality left in you, you'll give him a good life before these two years are up," he pleaded. Fuyuki was confused at what he meant.

" _He's… not supposed to talk about that_ ," Kululu spoke. He hadn't realized he thought it clearly enough for Fuyuki to pick up on it.

"At that, I must take my leave now." Dororo bowed to them and walked off. As he turned his back, he thought to himself, _That's odd. I didn't know there was a Demon Queen. Why has no one heard of this before?_

"That was weird," Fuyuki remarked. He suspected Dororo mostly gave up after getting maimed. It probably wouldn't happen again, though, now that Kululu had agreed to move on and not wallow in misery anymore. "Why do you think he gave up, Kululu?"

No answer.

"…Kululu?"

Under Kululu's control, his eyes locked straight ahead. Fuyuki's heart skipped a beat. Whether that was his own doing, or Kululu's, he wasn't sure. For, lingering at the edge of the fair was someone they both surely recognized who had just come out from the trees to see what all the commotion was about.

Standing there was a young girl with a staff in her hands.

* * *

 **So this chapter was actually the end of arc 1, or what I'd like to call the Dororo arc. Next arc focuses more on someone else being the sense of conflict~ Guess who.**


	11. Fight Me

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **So this is the beginning of the second arc. Starts off with a flashback with one of the character's you all have been asking about in at least a couple reviews.**

* * *

 **Two years ago, December 1st**

"Ow!" Natsumi yelled as her mother combed the tangles out of her hair.

"It's fine, Natsumi," Aki told her. "If you can deal with picking fights, and getting your hair this messed up, you can deal with me hacking at a few tangles," she told the almost-fourteen-year-old girl. Natsumi frowned.

True, it had been her fault for getting so dirty, but her mom didn't seem to be on her side of things. Those kids had challenged her to a one-on-twenty fight and she had been happy to throw their faces in the dirt.

She smiled proudly. _Well, maybe I was the one who goaded them into challenging me, and made sure that they were strong enough to fight for hours and at least get a few hits on me so I could practice my defense, but it wasn't my fault I got stuck in some branches coming home!_ Natsumi pouted again. She had neglected proper hair care in the past week, instead focusing her energy on training.

"Why is it that you've been getting in so much trouble, anyway, Natsumi? You teacher called yesterday and said you were getting worse than you usually have been." Aki seemed concerned. "Is... Is there something you want to talk about? You're picking more fights than is healthy for someone of your age. Shouldn't you be hanging out with friends in your last few weeks? Spending time with a crush?"

Natsumi pulled herself away from her mother. "But that would be pointless!" she pointed out.

"You sure you don't want to spend a little more time with Saburo? I've seen the way you look at him," Aki teased Natsumi, as her daughter blushed. "If you want to tell him you like him, now's the time to do so. You won't see him for another two years."

"I... I don't like Saburo..." She avoided eye contact with her Mom. She had always liked talking to her Mom about boys. She had felt comfortable about it and even started chatting with her more openly about boys, a gender she once called gross, being rather cute after puberty had hit.

However, Saburo was not something that she wanted to talk about with her mom. Yes, admittedly, she had checked him out a few times, like most of the girls in town, but she had no intention of starting anything with him.

Well, it was more that he had no intention of starting anything with her.

 _"I can't start relationships. It's against my rules of being the future Demon King's host. So I'm sorry, but I ain't interested,"_ Saburo had told her during one of the first times she had seen him. He must have assumed that she liked him, since all of the girls her age regarded him as a hero and flocked after him.

The experience had been rather humiliating and she had avoided him after that. She didn't want to tell her mom she had already been rejected even before developing feelings for Saburo.

She also didn't really want to tell her Mom that although Saburo looked cute, she only wanted to admire the merchandise, not actually do anything with it. His personality seemed distant, and although the idea of having a crush on someone so mysterious was pleasant, she knew she had more important things to do.

Like prepare for tomorrow.

"I want to get stronger for tomorrow. I don't want to be exploited. I need to be strong enough so that if something bad happens, I can protect myself," Natsumi explained, giving a reason as to why she had been fighting so much.

Although she was strong enough to take out twenty humans, she knew that was nothing compared to a demon.

"Oh, Natsumi..." Aki hugged her daughter. "You don't need to get stronger. You're already strong enough. You don't need to stress about it. Remember what I always told you, there are bad demons and there are good demons, just like people!"

Natsumi looked at her mother. She just silently shook her head.

Aki was too optimistic. Natsumi didn't think there could be good demons. After all, if there were good demons, why did the kids with demons need to be locked away and sent away to a certain part of town? Why had, before the war against the angels, demons and humans hated each other so much? The peace between the two sides just seemed uneasy, like the demons were still holding something over them.

Maybe she just felt this way because she didn't have the opportunity to celebrate the friendship between the demons and humans every year at the festival, but it might have been because she was right.

"It'll be fine. You'll get a good demon. You went through the personality test, remember? They tried to match you up with someone who would be perfectly compatible with you." Aki tried to get her excited for the following day. "Have you heard much about your demon? Is she nice?"

"Ummm... my demon is male, Mom," Natsumi said. "When the test asked me the preferred gender of my demon, I said I didn't care. Either way, we'll be fighting for control of my body, and I think I can go all-out better on a guy than a girl. It makes me feel less guilty," she told her. What she really hated about her demon, though, was who it was. Apparently, her personality test had matched her up to a hot-headed, brash sort of guy who liked beating up on things and fighting in wars. He seemed so violent and stupid! How insulting. Why would the test match her up to that?

Aki frowned deeply. "Oh, Natsumi... Oh geez..." She really hoped her daughter didn't have any more puberty to go through. She had heard of some people that received demons with a different gender than them, but it usually went very awkwardly for the teenagers who were still struggling with teenage hormones and were very likely going to be teased relentlessly by their demon if they were to act on them. She knew her deceased husband had a female demon, and that had gone very poorly for him, so she felt terrible for having let it slip her mind of warning Natsumi about it. "I suppose we have some... extra concerns to talk about during your possession." Aki wondered how to make this least awkward as possible for her daughter.

"What concerns?" Natsumi asked, confused. "Don't worry. If my demon ever makes me uncomfortable, I'll figure out how to punch him in the face. I'm going to keep him in line." She crossed her arms and stood up proudly.

Aki hoped Natsumi's optimism would stay. Because she was going to need it.

Aki stayed up the rest of the night talking to Natsumi about puberty and how to handle it with a demon inside of her.

* * *

The next day, although worried, Natsumi knew she had to take on the challenge that she was about to face.

"Good-bye, Fuyuki. I'll see you when you come into school." She hugged her little brother one last time before she would head off to the temple.

"Stay safe," Fuyuki whispered.

"I will. Don't worry," Natsumi promised. _I'll never let those demons harm me or exploit me. I'll show them how tough humanity can be._ She hugged her mother one last time as well. "See you in two years, Mom!"

Aki nodded. She had utmost confidence in her daughter.

Natsumi marched to the temple and did everything the priests ordered of her. She kept a firm look on her face, never wavering as her demon entered her body.

Soon enough, the process was complete with no negative mix-ups or side effects. She was rushed off to the dormitories at school, so people wouldn't have to deal with her and her demon.

To her surprise, she stayed mostly in command for the first couple hours, but the presence of being watched was constant. Like she would never truthfully be alone again.

Why wasn't he acting? Why hadn't he tried to flex her muscles or experience life through her body? she wondered.

 _Wait... Is he watching and waiting...? Figuring out what I'm like so he can strike me when I'm weak and can't fight back?_ A worthy strategy, but she'd always be prepared for him.

"Demon. Your tricks won't work on me. I know you're trying to figure out the best time to gain my body, but you'll never have it! You may live in it, but you won't be able to use it!" Natsumi hissed out loud, waiting for the demon's voice to respond.

" _Heh. So the pathetic human figured out my tricks,_ " A deep low voice answered her. Deeper and more gruff than she had expected. But at least he was admitting to his strategy!

"I'm not a pathetic human! Humanity isn't pathetic!" she yelled, wishing dearly she could fight him.

" _Sure it isn't,_ " the voice laughed.

"We aren't nearly as pathetic and low as you demons!" Natsumi retorted.

"Aren't you going to argue about how humanity and demons can be friends, thanks to the Nishizawa contract?" Natsumi was surprised when they both said this at the same time. It seemed like they were thinking the exact same thing - that humans and demons just weren't meant to be friends.

She was taken aback for a moment, and the demon seemed silent as he realized she was thinking the exact same thing he was.

" _Interesting. I've never had a human host who's been against us demons from the very beginning._ "

"Demons are evil. They're clearly exploiting humanity. Nobody should send their youth to be possessed by an otherworldly creature. I can't believe anyone would follow some sort of stupid contract made ten thousand years ago built upon exploitation of youths," Natsumi hissed.

" _So... you're against the contract._ " The demon was silent for a moment. " _I was too, long ago. I believed we could fight the angels off all on our own. I liked the way things were, an honest fight between humans and demons for control, not this 'living together' stupidity for two years. Friendship means nothing on the battlefield. What matters is power and skill._ "

"Couldn't agree more." Natsumi cracked her own knuckles, wanting to punch the face of this terrible guy. The demon laughed.

" _Maybe you might prove to be a challenge... An opponent. Not a worthy opponent, but an opponent nonetheless_ ," the voice told her.

Natsumi shrugged. "I'd say the same about you, but I don't even see you as an opponent. You are merely someone renting a room in my body, and I want you to pay rent and upkeep."

" _Make me,_ " the voice growled.

Natsumi smiled. "Your funeral." She wasn't going to let this demon ever have her body.

* * *

Natsumi proved stronger than Giroro, her demon, had expected. He barely got any control of the body. She sometimes let him have control when she was feeling crummy and sick, maybe once a month, but then he couldn't do mayhem or anything terrible, because then he was in a lot of pain, too, the sucker.

Fighting Giroro constantly proved to have its disadvantages, though. For one thing, she hadn't progressed to be as knowledgeable about demons as nearly any of her classmates, because she didn't have many conversations with Giroro besides "fight me" and then the two would tussle for control.

Neither of them seemed to want to be friends, and they were both fine with that, but Natsumi was beginning to get self-conscious about her lack of divination with her demon. She hadn't even been able to focus enough willpower to get into her head and see him. He would always interrupt it by letting out a teasing retort or challenge.

She was determined to get into her mind, though, and see him face-to-face. She was already three months behind all her classmates in this, and she didn't want to look weak.

She had a better motivation, anyway. If she could see her opponent, then she could punch him in the face.

So she finally shut her eyes tightly and tried to meditate and concentrate. Giroro, of course, tried to push forward to gain control, but she pushed him back.

After what seemed like hours, she finally struck a chord of success and was pulled into the inner reaches of her mind - her sub-conscious.

"I did it!" she cried out victoriously.

"So you did, Natsumi." Giroro's low voice greeted her. For the first few weeks he had taken to calling her human, as he did all his hosts, but eventually he had learned to call her Natsumi. She was a respectful opponent and calling her any less would be a disgrace.

She, however, still called him demon.

"Take that, demon! I finally did it!" She whirled around to face him, socking him in the face as her victory. Giroro fell backward, having not expecting that.

"No human has ever punched me before..." he admitted, rubbing his chin. "You're tougher than I thought. Perhaps you represent the true spirit of what humanity should be. The fight that they used to have." Giroro grinned.

"Yeah. Respect humanity, you stupid demon," Natsumi glared. Giroro got up, letting Natsumi focus more on him.

This was the first time she had ever seen Giroro's face, or seen any demon, actually. She had only seen artist's depictions of them, and they all had looked inhuman. Monstrous, their horns grotesque. But Giroro was nothing like that.

In fact, he actually looked quite human, besides his ears, horns, and the scar across his face. Lots of muscles, too, showing that he had been through a number of fights.

 _Crap! He's hot! I didn't realize he was hot!_ Natsumi tried to slap her cheeks awake to keep them from blushing. She knew she had a tendency to go after cute-looking boys, but she had assumed she'd have better things to do when she was going through her possession. _Do not find him attractive! He is your enemy, Natsumi! You cannot do this to yourself!_ This was not something she needed to think about. She knew the weakness would be an opening for Giroro.

She tried not to let her eyes wander across his shirtless, very well-toned, tan, chest. _Nice,_ she thought as she checked him out, and then pinched herself awake. _Keep your eyes on his face! That way you can figure out what he's planning!_

Giroro was still rubbing his cheek. "You're not like any other humans I've met, Natsumi. None of my other hosts have taken the opportunity, on our first meeting, to punch me in the face."

"I bet you say that to every human girl you meet. 'Ah, you're not like other humans!' " Natsumi laughed. The line seemed so typically bad. She wasn't falling for his false flattery. He was probably planning something, like their next fight.

"No. I mean that. Literally _none_ of them have punched me," he pointed out. "I respect you for taking our fight into here, and it was my bad for not expecting it at all. As a demon, I need to be more prepared."

"Uh-huh. Prepared. Got it." Natsumi's eyes were still wandering. Giroro looked confused until her eyes snapped back to his face. "At least now that I can get into this realm, I can beat you up whenever you get out of line. Got it?"

Giroro nodded. Natsumi was definitely his most commanding of hosts. He didn't want to just give up the fight, though. In fact, he honestly enjoyed it. He hadn't had a fight so incredibly deep in years. No wonder this girl had been found as a perfect host for him. "Is this your first time seeing a demon in person, Natsumi?" he asked. He noticed she seemed distracted. Was it the horns that weirded her out, or his scar?

"Yes. Of course, it is," she claimed. She hadn't expected his eyes to be so blue... And his hair to be so perfectly blond... _This is bad... This is really bad... He's really really hot._ She tried not to stress out about it.

"They don't teach you in school about the different ears demons can have, genetically... Or the fact that some of them even have tails, do they?" he asked. He didn't have a tail himself, but he knew many demons who did. He had much longer, pointier ears with slight antennae on them.

"Well, no... No, they don't. They only tell us you have horns," she admitted. "Nice horns, by the way. They seem pretty tough. Looks like I could grab onto them pretty easily if you got out of line. I could throw you across my mind, I suppose," she threatened. She had to look tough. Like all she was thinking about was fighting him some more.

"Good luck with that, human!" Giroro slipped back into calling her human instead of her name. "My horns are powerful and sharp! No human has ever been able to grab hold of them!" he bragged.

To prove him wrong, Natsumi walked over to him with confidence. She didn't show any fear in her face as she let her hands reach up and dig into his horns, getting a tight grip.

Giroro tried to shake her off, to push her, but she just gripped harder. _They ARE sharp,_ she realized. They were covered in several small points, like the thorns of a blackberry vine. In the strange mind realm, her hands were bleeding. The amount of pain was excruciating, but she had to prove a point. She tussled with Giroro for a while, him desperately trying to stab at her, before she finally threw him across her mind by his head.

Giroro was breathing heavily. He looked at her, confused momentarily by her immense strength, but then shook his head. "You are a worthy opponent," he finally spoke.

"Don't challenge me again," she told him. After thinking for a moment she spoke again, "I suppose now that we can see each other face-to-face, I can make a list of rules you'll have to follow while staying in my body. You know the consequences of breaking them."

Giroro looked defeated for a moment. Natsumi was strong. But he had to continue the fight. For his warrior pride. "I know them. But you know I can't follow them."

"Well, then." She shrugged. "I suppose we'll fight a lot more. Suits me just fine."

Giroro grinned. He was secretly fine with fighting. It was fun.

* * *

The two continued their fights constantly, but the fights always had an underlay of something more. The two no longer knew that they hated each other and that they both enjoyed their constant battle, either for the constant sexual tension or because it was the way they expressed their friendship and respect for one another.

Natsumi seemed to even be warming up to Giroro, finally calling him by his name, knowing that he had her back. Sometimes, he would lend her his powers to fight other demons besides him, and he had even given her a few pointers on battle techniques that she was less experienced in, like firearms and ranged weaponry.

 _Crap. This is bad._ Giroro knew what had happened. He knew Natsumi was going to be a problem ever since she'd first started fighting him and when she had actually grabbed his horns. He knew he had a problem dealing with her, but he finally let himself reflect on how bad the situation was.

He had wanted to keep it a secret. Wish he hadn't known, as well. But he had done something even more shameful than giving up his immortality.

He had fallen in love with a human.

He knew that the relationship was doomed. After the two years were up, Natsumi's and his battles would draw to a final close and he would never see her again.

He couldn't ever come back to the human plane to see Natsumi after it was over. He'd be executed for it, one of the reasons falling in love with a human was so dangerous. Sure, by law, you could marry a human, but you had to make sure that you never truthfully had feelings for them.

Falling in love was dangerous. Secrets of demon society might be exposed because of it, letting their entire society, and treaty, eventually collapse.

 _Why... Why did I have to fall in love with her? I should have tried harder to stop this. I should have tried harder not to admire her warrior spirit and how tough she was!_ He was in for a world of hurt. He wouldn't be able to recover from this.

There were too many dangers... And Natsumi was still disadvantaged against him. He was a demon, after all, and he hadn't ever used his demon powers against her. That wouldn't have been courteous to their fights, since it would leave him with such an unfair advantage.

This secret love he had wasn't fair to Natsumi. She had made it very clear how she felt about demons, that they were all evil, and although he was a demon and he could hardly agree with her, he could see why humans would say that.

They weren't supposed to be enemies, but he knew naturally they were.

After all, human energy was a demon's food source.

* * *

"Giroro..." In the mind realm, Natsumi lay down, tired from the recent sparring session she had experienced. In the past year, she had experienced less full-scale fighting with him and more sparring. Using her mind as their field was easy enough. Although the other students in her school had begun spending less time with her because she was spending more time in her mind than socializing, she was okay with this.

As long as she got stronger, she was fine. "I'm going to miss you, after the two years are up," she confessed. She was honestly a bit surprised to hear the words coming out of her mouth herself, but at the same time, she had accepted that Giroro had become a dear friend to her.

He wasn't like those other demons... She preferred to think of him more like a foreigner instead of a demon possessing her.

All demons might have been evil, and they still were in her mind, but Giroro could be the one exception. He seemed rather respectful, and he was someone she felt like she understood.

"I mean, I'll be happy to see Fuyuki and my mom again... Boy, do I miss them! But I'm going to miss you, too." She shot Giroro a smile.

Giroro frowned. He needed to tell her. It wouldn't be fair to her if he didn't. She needed to know before it was too late.

"Brother, huh? You have a brother, too?" he asked instead, stuffying down the worry.

"Yep, Fuyuki. I don't talk about him much because we're always so busy, but he's a nice kid. Weak and a bit of a dork, but nice," she said. "We'll meet him eventually."

"I have an older brother in the demon realm. He's nice enough. I understand having a sibling and missing them." He tried to make conversation.

Natsumi nodded. She hadn't heard much about Giroro's life in the demon realm besides some stuff about his previous hosts, and about his dislike of the Nishizawa contract and the war. He really seemed to like fighting, more than anything.

"Well, I'm glad you'll be able to see him again when this is all over." She tried to see the silver lining in them eventually separating.

Giroro winced. "May I speak to you, Natsumi, about something serious?" _I am going to die for this, I know it. But I can't just keep it a secret to myself. I need to tell her,_ he realized. He took her hand in a serious moment and looked into her eyes.

"Um... of course," she agreed. She didn't know what was going on, but she suspected. He was just gazing at her. _Is... Is he going to confess his love to me or something?_ she wondered. No. That couldn't be. Demons and humans couldn't be together. But still... she couldn't deny that the idea sounded appealing. Although she hadn't wanted to pursue any romantic relationships during her years possessed, she knew that if Giroro asked her out, she'd probably try to make the most of it and pursue a secret relationship with him. _Darn. I like him too, don't I? I suppose... our constant fighting HAS been incredibly fun..._

But could this work out? No, it would definitely end in flames if they were found out, or at the end of the year when they had to separate.

But it was too late for second thoughts, because Giroro began to speak. "Natsumi... there's something very important I have to tell you..."

* * *

The staff had a crescent moon on one side of it with some sort of floating orb in the middle. The other end looked incredibly heavy, with another spherical shape weighing it down. It looked magical, and filled with power.

Fuyuki just looked in shock at the girl in front of him who had arrived at the technology fair.

"I-it's you..." he could feel his voice whisper. His feet moved on their own to the girl. "I searched so much for you."

The girl waved the spear to the side as she saw Fuyuki, so that he could approach her. She outstretched her arms to him.

Fuyuki felt tears fall down his cheek. He wiped them off, embarrassed. He was just filled with so much happiness.

There was never a day in his life that he had been so happy.

He walked closer to the girl to greet her hug, but to his surprise his body instead moved forward and kissed her, square on the lips.

 _WHAT... WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING? Did Kululu make me do this?_ He slowly realized that when he had walked forward he had assumed he was in control. But... what if he wasn't?

The joy he felt, he realized, was both his and Kululu's. But the joy he personally felt was now turned to disgust.

"Fuyuki's... first kiss..." Momoka, on the stage with the other NPG people, despite being temporarily frightened of her crush, still cried. Paul offered her tissues as she dropped onto her knees.

Fuyuki tried to pull away from the kiss, feeling his lips just press all the more desperately to the girl on the other end, but Kululu's will was way too strong. He eventually felt the happy feeling of a fist greet his cheek, separating him from the disgust.

He honestly felt like throwing up.

"Don't you dare touch my girlfriend, kid!" When Fuyuki was able to focus again, he saw a blond man standing in front of him, who had come running out of virtually nowhere. Probably half-way across the tech fair. He slowly noticed the horns on the blond's head. He wasn't hiding his, like Dororo had been.

"Fuyuki! What the hell?" the girl with the staff desperately wiped Fuyuki's saliva off of her lips.

" _Fuyuki. How does she know you?_ " Kululu asked. Fuyuki wanted to cry. Kululu was asking that after the trouble he had just caused?

Fuyuki wanted to open his mouth to answer, to explain, but Kululu remained having a firm control of the body. He stood up and brushed himself off, staring at the girl and the blond demon.

"Ah, wait. This is Fuyuki?" the blond asked. "Sorry! My bad! I've never met the guy before, so... I probably shouldn't have punched him, then..."

"Nah, it's fine. It was pretty gross that he frickin' kissed me!" the girl responded. "Unless... that wasn't Fuyuki..."

"Bingo," Kululu answered. "Don't worry. Fuyuki didn't kiss you. It was me. There's... There's nothing to worry about, don't worry." He slowly walked closer to the girl, and tried to grab her arm.

The girl recoiled from him. "Demon King," she hissed.

"Kululu. Please... call me Kululu. Ku, ku, ku." Fuyuki was confused why he didn't want her to call him "your highness." Seeing that the girl was a little bit wary, he turned to the blond demon. "Now... what is with this demon out on this plane saying that you're his girlfriend?" he asked venomously.

The girl waved her staff. "We have work to do. Don't humor him with answers. We need to save Fuyuki as soon as possible."

The demon nodded, about to lunge forward at Fuyuki and Kululu. He was only stopped by a voice calling to him.

"Giroro! Is that you?" Dororo walked forward, still in a cast. He narrowed his eyes. "It is! So you gave up your immortality... Just like I did." He smiled.

Giroro frowned. "I... I, uh... Didn't know you'd be here too, Zeroro..."

"It's Dororo now," Dororo corrected.

Giroro shrugged.

"You must have had quite the noble reason to give up your immortality. Back in the demon realm, you seemed so against the idea and you giving up your immortality before!" Dororo spoke. "It's too bad you couldn't have told your brother you were fine. He led a revolution in your honor, and... well... the list of casualties would only bring you great sadness. I shall not tell you how many died."

"About two hundred," Kululu answered for him. "But guess you were fine all along. Can't promise it'll last, though. Kuuuu, ku, ku."

"Wait, what?" Giroro asked. "What happened to Garuru?"

"He's hanging on my wall," Kululu answered. "Maybe you should go visit him. Oh wait, you can't! Ku, ku, ku."

Giroro clenched his fists, filled with rage.

"So what reason did you do something so pathetic, giving up your immortality? Was it to attempt to kill me, like Dororo did?" Kululu asked.

Giroro blushed and looked down. His reason had been a spur-of-the-moment thing with no thought put into it. It had been the only solution he had, though.

"He did it to be with me," the girl with the staff answered proudly, unaware that that was actually a really stupid reason and Giroro had given up his life to be with a girl.

Literally every demon laughed - Kululu, any student in the area... even Keroro, who was many miles away. They all just started laughing for no some reason.

Only Dororo just shook his head at Giroro, disappointed in his friend. Giroro's face tinted pink.

The girl by Giroro's side did not understand, but she turned her face to the task at hand, directing her attention at Fuyuki and Kululu. She tried not to shudder at the kiss she had experienced with him.

She turned her staff to face Kululu, ignoring Giroro's plight. "I am going to kill you now, Demon King."

"Aww... You're trying to kill me again? Brings back lots of memories." Kululu wiped a tear from his eye. He tried to walk forward, but the staff was still at his chest. "Stop this, though. We have a lot to talk about and to catch up on."

"What are you talking about?" the girl asked, disgusted.

" _Wait... How do you know her?"_ Fuyuki asked, confused.

Kululu looked confused, as well. "Do... you not remember me? Despite the hideous body you're currently in, I easily recognized you. Ah, but I suppose your ugliness isn't your fault... Don't worry, I can ignore it! Really, I can!" he insisted.

The girl frowned a lot.

"Wait a minute..." Giroro rubbed his forehead, "Please tell me that before we were together, you didn't have a fling with the Demon King? How? Why?"

 _Oh god... that totally happened, didn't it... Oh my god... That's why Kululu knows her...!_ Fuyuki felt disgusted.

"No! We didn't have a fling!" The girl shook her head.

Kululu knelt down and kissed her hand lightly. "Are you embarrassed? Is something wrong? Are you against the idea of us because of this other guy you've been dragging around?" He pointed to Giroro. "I can kill him easily, you know. I'm just... honestly happy to see you." Kululu got up. "I'll love you always and always, you know."

Fuyuki was grossed out. Giroro looked like he was about to punch Kululu again.

 _Did she and Kululu honestly have a fling? I mean, I'm happy to see her again, but... What is with this? Or... Or is Kululu just messing around and being a jerk like always?_ Fuyuki hoped it was the latter.

"Please, Demon King... Let me talk to my brother," the girl begged. "I need to catch up with him. If you don't let me talk to him, I can always make you! Right now, though, I'm so disgusted I can't think properly."

"Your brother?" Kululu did a double-take. "Wait... the host body I'm currently in... is your brother?" He looked horrified.

"Yes. So cut out this gross flirting. I am Natsumi Hinata, and on my name as demon exorcist, I will not stand for it!Now, let me talk to Fuyuki!" Pushing on Fuyuki's stomach, the staff in Natsumi's hands glowed, and suddenly Fuyuki was in control, with Kululu at the back of Fuyuki's mind.

Fuyuki finally hugged his sister. "I thought you were dead! We all thought you were dead."

"I'm sorry, Fuyuki. I'm so sorry. But I'm here now, and I'm just in time to save you," Natsumi told him.

Fuyuki felt happy again.

A new time was coming for him. Natsumi had returned. And she was tougher than anyone else. She wouldn't let Kululu ruin their relationship for her.

He was confused, but he was certain that she would explain what she had been up to.

He was just so happy that she had returned.

* * *

 **Please review. I'm sure at least some of you are finally happy that by chapter 11 there is finally Gironatsu for you.**


	12. Demon Exorcist

**Sorry that this chapter took so long to come out. I wrote pretty slowly today. I did something gross to my arm at work like idk pulled a muscle or something and now typing is not as fun as it used to be.**

 **-Scissors**

* * *

For a full half an hour, Fuyuki just sobbed in his sister's arms. Under his control, thankfully. But Natsumi was getting tired of his reaction. Each time she tried to speak, to begin filling him in on what she'd been up to the past couple of months, Fuyuki just cut her off with more sobbing. And he didn't stop until his sister literally smacked him back to reality.

"Ow!" Fuyuki touched his stinging cheek. That had hurt more than Giroro's punch! "What was that for, sis?"

"That was for not letting me talk!" she said. "I've been trying to explain myself, and all you've been doing is bawling your head off over the fact that I'm not actually dead." She took a breath and calmed herself. "Sorry. Lost my temper a bit there. It really is sweet that you were so worried about me, Fuyuki. I'm sorry I yelled." She wrapped her arms around him in another hug.

Before her, Giroro and Dororo cleared their throats, to remind her of what she had been doing.

"Oh! Right." She pushed Fuyuki out of her arms. "Let's move to some place quieter, and then I'll catch up with you, all right?"

"All—All right." Fuyuki wiped a last bit of tears but hastily complied. He, Dororo, and Giroro all followed her into an isolated tent not currently in use by anyone at the tech fair. She sat down with them and prepared to begin her story, until she realized something was… just a bit off.

Her eyes flitted to Dororo. "Is it really necessary for you to be here?" she asked him. "Don't you have _anywhere_ else you need to be?"

"Well…" Dororo scratched the back of his neck. "…I was going to visit a friend out in the forest, but everyone's been so worried about Giroro! I just have to know why he gave up his immortality for you. Please, put our minds at ease."

Natsumi sighed. "Whatever. I guess I'll tell you, then. I'm gonna tell the story this time, Giroro."

"What?" he complained. "Why do you always get to tell the story? You always make me sound like such a dork to all the towns we go to…!"

"Yeah, 'cause you are," she said with a laugh. Her eyes went back to Fuyuki and she tucked some hair behind her ear. "So anyway. Yeah, Fuyuki, this was my demon. His name is Giroro."

Giroro nodded to Fuyuki and put up his hand in greeting. "Sorry about the punch earlier."

"It was okay. Kululu needed it," Fuyuki said on the Demon King's behalf.

" _It was unfair!_ " Kululu protested in his head.

Fuyuki ignored him, because it was story time. "Go on."

"He was a pretty cool demon to have," Natsumi continued. "He would let me fight him ALL the time!"

Fuyuki nodded. Of course his sister would love that kind of quality.

"I got so strong in that weird mind realm, Fuyuki. Wish you could have seen it!" She sighed. "Sparring in real life is _much_ easier now that Giroro's a mortal, I gotta say. You can really use your surroundings to your advantage. It brings a whole new level of challenges to the sparring experience."

Fuyuki wasn't sure if he wanted to be hearing about all this adult stuff anymore. They hadn't even reached those types of lessons yet in health class! He had to wait at least a whole other semester to learn about it. Unlike his sister, he supposed. "So why _did_ your demon—Giroro—suddenly become mortal?" Fuyuki pressed.

"Uhh, I dunno," said Natsumi. "Probably so we could be together, I guess. We didn't really want to separate. Since, you know, Giroro would have left back to the demon realm after two years." She smirked at him. "He was probably thinking that we had to separate in order to stay together, if that makes any sense."

Fuyuki scratched the back of his head. "It sort of does…?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He knew what this meant. Natsumi had a boyfriend. She ran away from home, and made everything think that she was dead, just so that she could spar with her boyfriend. Unbelievable! "So… what happened next?"

"What happened next," Giroro picked up, "was I gave up my immortality."

"You didn't _have_ to," she reminded him.

"But I did. And so then we were going to run away together and marry and start a family—"

Natsumi cut him off. "Until we realized our greater calling, which was to exorcise demons."

Giroro's shoulders slumped. "Yeah. That."

"Why are you exorcising demons, though?" Fuyuki asked.

Natsumi rolled her eyes. "Because they're all evil and dangerous?"

Fuyuki stuck his thumb at Giroro. "But isn't he a demon?"

"Giroro's different," she insisted. "He's more like a foreigner than a demon, really."

Dororo looked at Giroro with confusion and whispered something. Giroro just shrugged and muttered something back.

"So, what's been up with you?" Natsumi asked. "When I heard that you got the Demon King as your demon by accident, I was so terrified. I just had to come over right away."

" _Terrified?_ " said Kululu. " _Why was she TERRIFIED?_ "

"You're just a terrifying kind of guy to everyone," Fuyuki mentally responded. "It's been pretty rough," he told his sister. "But… I'm not dead yet, so that's a plus."

"What about your head wound?" she gestured to the bandages around Fuyuki's head, covering the areas where Kululu's horns had come out. "How'd you get those? Did some demon try to fight you or something?"

"Well, yeah," Fuyuki responded, glancing over at Dororo. "But they're not from _him_. They're actually from Kululu. Uh, the Demon King."

"Wait, what do you mean, they're not from _him_?" Natsumi glanced over at Dororo. "You weren't trying to kill my brother, were you?"

"N-no! Not your brother!" Dororo shook his hands in front of his face defensively. "Just the Demon King. And I've since stopped."

"Ah. I see." Natsumi calmed back down. "But there are easier ways to kill a demon, you know. But… I'll get to that later." She lifted up her bangs to show Fuyuki a scar. "You wanna know how I got this?"

"Fighting a demon?" Fuyuki suggested.

"No. Funnier than that, actually." Natsumi grinned. "It was right after Giroro became a mortal."

* * *

Giroro awoke on the ground as a mortal.

"I… I really did it," he said as he stared down at his mortal hands. He stood up and flexed his muscles, and then, in his period of euphoria, dashed through the woods, climbed a tree, and rolled down a hill. He gave a hearty laugh. "Oh, I've missed being able to romp about in this body on the human plane!" He jumped to his feet. "Natsumi, this is wonderful! We can finally make this work out." He darted to her giddily. "We can finally—"

His horns struck her in the head.

"Aw, goddamnit!" he yelled as she was flung to the ground. "Natsumi, are you all right?" Cautiously, so he wouldn't make the same mistake this time, he lifted her into his arms. "I—I really didn't mean to do that. I guess I've forgotten my own limits. That's one of the disadvantages of having big horns, I suppose."

Natsumi did not respond.

"N-Natsumi?" Giroro grew terrified. He would have pressed his pointy demon ear against her chest to listen for a heartbeat, but he knew he would be met with a similar situation to what brought them into this mess. For now, he could only rely on her hearing him call her name. "Natsumi! Can you hear me?"

She did. She sent a punch right into his cheekbone.

"Augh!" Giroro groaned. "Oh, geez, this is karma…."

"Watch where you toss those horns, Giroro!" Natsumi stood up, brushed herself off, and cracked her knuckles. She was so infuriated. Thanks to this experience, 60% of her kissing fantasies with Giroro had been terminated. "First day as a mortal and you already almost knock me out."

"It truly was… an accident," he moaned as he sat on the ground. "Wait… hold still. You have a bit of blood…." He looked around for some cloth to tear off and use as a bandage, but as he wore no shirt, he had to make do with tearing a strip of cloth lengthwise off his pants. "Sorry about this."

Natsumi decided she could forgive him for the moment, because she was watching him tear up his pants instead. _Uh-oh. I guess he did hit me pretty hard._

Giroro went up to her and wrapped the bandage around her head where he had struck her. There was a steady trickle coming down from her forehead. Accidental collisions were the worst. At least it was a one-time thing, though. Giroro was sure to be more careful in the future.

* * *

"But… that was after he became a mortal," said Natsumi. "How did the Demon King hurt you if he is in you?"

"I don't really know how," said Fuyuki. "He—He got a bit angry and his horns burst out of my head…."

Giroro and Dororo exchanged a glance. "I didn't know we could do that," said Dororo.

"Hey, Natsumi, if I had known that we could do that, would you have let me make you grow horns?" Giroro asked her.

"Hm… I guess that would be okay," she agreed. She figured that she would look pretty cool with a set of demon horns. "How much did it hurt, Fuyuki?"

"Uh…" He couldn't actually believe they were talking about this. "Not very much. But it still felt weird. A-and anyway, you keep jumping all over the place!" He released his breath. "Can you just tell me why you went missing for so long?"

"Well, we obviously couldn't stay in school now that my demon had become a mortal," Natsumi told him.

* * *

"There. How's that?" Giroro stood back after he finished bandaging her head.

"Mmm… better," Natsumi agreed. "Thanks, Giroro."

"Right." He set his hands on his hips. "Well, now that it's been clarified for us that I'm not going to be able to blend in with you humans anytime soon, thanks to these horns of mine, what do think we should do?"

"What do you mean?" asked Natsumi.

"We obviously can't stay here," Giroro said. "Demons can't live amongst the humans. You know that. They hate us, and for good reasons. So if we really want to be together…" He wrapped his arm around her waist and leaned in closer to her. "…then we need to go someplace safer."

"Okay," she agreed. "Not like I was going to stay here anyway."

* * *

"So…" Fuyuki cut her off. "That was it? You were just like, 'Okay, let's just leave and not tell my family. I didn't like it here, anyway.' "

"Oh. Sorry." Natsumi rubbed her arm awkwardly. "I guess I sort of forgot that the news would reach you and mom. I hadn't seen you two in such a long time, you know? It almost felt like school and home were two different places, and that the school would never tell you if I went missing."

"Mom was devastated when she learned you were missing," he said. "And I thought for the longest time that you were dead! We thought for sure that something went wrong with your demon, like it did with Dad. What other explanation was there?"

"Ack… sorry!" she said again. But she couldn't have stayed with the town. Not when their entire society was built on lies. She looked Fuyuki over, wondering if he knew, wondering if anyone had warned him about what was is store for him at the end of his two years. This was why the world needed an exorcist like her. This was why the world needed to be without demons. "The journey was for a good cause, though. It was during our travels that we realized that the world had a mightier need for us. To exorcise demons."

* * *

After Natsumi gathered a sufficient amount of supplies for both of them on their journey, they ventured into the forest together, mainly because it was close by, but also because they weren't afraid of the monsters that lied within.

"So, where do you think we should go?" asked Natsumi, tossing Giroro some gear. He was going to have to carry half of it. "I don't want to go back to society. So... how does living in the forest for the rest of our lives sound to you?"

"Honestly, I could live anywhere with you and I'd be fine," Giroro told her with a broad smile.

Natsumi smiled, as well. Giroro was a smooth-talker, yeah, but she still wasn't completely sure why he gave up his immortality just to be with her. Didn't he have a life back in the demon realm? Seemed to her like he kind of threw that all away the moment she confessed her feelings. But they would find a way to make do. "We could travel," she suggested. "See different sights… fight different monsters… try different foods."

Giroro nodded, considering this. An entirely new worlds of possibilities and opportunities had been opened up now.

"Traveling would be a whole lot of fun. We could visit towns at night as masked vigilantes," she went on. "We could become traveling artists and leave random projects throughout the lands…. We could become famous boxers. Then we'd get to punch stuff all day."

"I can't box, remember? Horns," Giroro told her.

"Oh, yeah. Guess that one's out, then…." She tapped her chin as they walked through the forest. "What should we do, then?"

"We could become weapon manufacturers," Giroro threw out. "I could wear a giant hat to cover my horns and ears. No one would know there was anything out of the ordinary about me."

"You'd need a _really_ big hat," Natsumi said with a laugh.

"Well, what do _you_ think we should do?"

Looking up to the sky, or at least the patches of it that shone through the leaves of the trees overhead, Natsumi hummed to herself, trying to decide on an answer. "What I would really want to do is protect the people I love. Make sure that they're safe from harm. Safe from the lies that society has made them believe."

Giroro chuckled. "You won't need to worry about me, Natsumi."

She teasingly punched him in the arm. "I wasn't talking about you, dork. I was talking about my family."

 _That's right. Natsumi has a family that she's leaving behind_ , Giroro recalled with a touch of shame. _It only makes sense that she'd be thinking of how to protect them. With a warrior spirit like hers, I'm not surprised._ Of course, that warrior spirit of hers was what he admired so much.

"I'm sure your family is safe from any harm," he assured her. "They're in the towns, aren't they? So the monsters—"

"I… wasn't actually talking about the monsters." She cleared her throat. "I want to protect them from demons, Giroro. I want to protect _everyone_ from demons. They prey on innocent children! You know I can't let that happen."

Giroro understood her fury, but he still couldn't help feeling bad for being a demon himself. It wasn't like demons had a choice in the matter. They could either eat human energy, or starve. Demon King's fault for signing a treaty that said they would have to use _kids_ for their food.

"Well, I don't know what you could do to fight other demons," he commented. "Fight a bunch of teenagers, I guess. And when it comes to adults, humans don't know who's a demon and who isn't."

Natsumi let out a sigh. "I suppose it really is futile." She continued walking forward, not really watching where she was going. However, Giroro stopped in his tracks. His ears had picked up on something. Something thromping through the forest…. Something large.

"We'd better stop here, Natsumi," Giroro told her. "Think I hear a monster coming."

"Cool. Time for dinner." Natsumi unsheathed a spear that she had snagged from some weapons shop before coming into the forest.

"You sure you wanna eat it? It sounds pretty big…. And I've got sweet potatoes in the bag."

"Giroro!" she complained. "I need _meat_!"

"All right, all right," he conceded. "It's moving toward us from that direction. Any second now we should be able to—"

The monster burst through the trees just then—and it was enormous. At the end of its snout were two large tusks, making it resemble a boar, except more surrealistically monster-like and gigantic.

"So what's the plan?" Giroro called to her. "Free-for-all?"

"Nah," she decided. "How about you try to fight it down here, and I'll jump on its neck and try to stab it from there."

Giroro nodded. "Sounds good." While Natsumi leapt away, Giroro and the boar-like creature circled each other, both waiting for the other to make a move. Giroro was pretty confident about this fight, though—he could take him. His horns were built for fighting in situations like these.

The monster pawed at the ground and then charged. Giroro charged as well. Horn clashed with tusk, and it turned into a battle of who could push who where. Giroro was growing nervous, because he had miscalculated a major factor of the battle, and that was size. He felt like a fool. You never went into battle without first sizing up your opponent! But since he was already up against him, there would be no stopping now.

The battle raged on for a couple more minutes. Giroro held his own against the creature decently enough, until the monster took a sudden swing at Giroro with his tusks. Instinctively, he used his horns to guard his vitals organs, and the most damage the monster took to him was a large gash on his horn. But it was agonizing! Giroro's sight blurred for a second, and blood trickled down onto his forehead. The creature prepared for another swing at him. Giroro didn't know if he had it in him for another go. Thankfully, just in the nick of time, Natsumi gouged her spear in the back of the monster's neck and it fell over, dead.

"Thanks… Natsumi…." Giroro fell over as well.

Natsumi hopped down off the monster and rushed to him so she could scoop him up in her arms. "Giroro!" she called. "Giroro, are you okay? Are you hurt? Come on, don't tell me that monster _got_ you! …Right, Giroro?"

Giroro's eyes fluttered open momentarily. "Something doesn't feel right," he groaned before falling back into her arms.

"GIRORO!" she shouted. "I can't lose you! You just gave up your immortality, and for what? This?" She pat his cheeks, splashed water onto his face, did whatever she could to awaken him…. Finally she pressed her lips against his to see if that would do the trick, but not even that helped.

* * *

"Wait, you kissed me?" Giroro interrupted. "I don't remember that part!"

"Oh, that's 'cause you were unconscious," Natsumi quickly explained.

Grumbling, he crossed his arms, and his voice grew quieter. "Of course it just _had_ to be when I was unconscious and wouldn't be able to remember." But he let her go on.

* * *

With no other choice, Natsumi hoisted Giroro onto her back and dragged him through the forest. "Don't worry, Giroro. I'll find help for you," she promised. _Geez… sensitive much? All he got was a cut on his horn. His fault for being reckless, I guess._

Eventually she came upon a small hut, cleverly concealed amongst the trees and wildlife. "We can stop here for the night, Giroro," she told him, even though she knew he wouldn't be able to hear. "Doesn't look like there's anyone inside…. I don't see any smoke coming out the top." She pushed open the door.

And was almost immediately greeted with a knife that flew past her face.

"Eep!" she gasped, nearly dropping Giroro.

"Drat! I almost got the intruder, Zeroyasha!" a young voice said. Natsumi recognized the voice as one that belonged to a young girl, perhaps her own age. The girl stepped out from the shadows and revealed herself. Natsumi had been right—she couldn't have been over fifteen. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" she demanded.

"I—I'm Natsumi Hinata," she said. "Don't kill me. I was just traveling with my—friend? Boyfriend? Sparring partner? You know, I'm not even sure yet. Giroro and I were traveling together and now he's hurt 'cause he was too reckless fighting a monster with me out in the woods."

"You fight the monsters out in the woods?" The girl seemed surprised. "You're brave for a couple of travelers."

"What can I say?" Natsumi bared her fists. "We were hungry!"

The girl walked over to a cupboard and muttered something to herself. Natsumi only caught something along the lines of, "I dunno, I don't think they're all that tasty…." Her voice rose. "So what does your friend need?"

"You'll help us?" Natsumi was shocked at the stranger's kindness.

"I don't see why not. Where's his injury?"

"Um…." She paled. "His… horn?"

"His horn? What do you mean his…" The girl approached Giroro and let out a squeal of fright, dropping all the medicine she had from her hands. "It's a demon!"

Her dog, Zeroyasha, started barking wildly.

Natsumi cringed. She knew this was a bad idea. "Please wait," she begged. "I know you must hate demons. I hate demons, too. But Giroro's a _good_ demon. He gave up his immortality, so he's not hurting anyone anymore. And right now, he's sick and needs help." She pointed to his horn. "If you have anything I can bandage this up with, I will be in your debt."

Koyuki picked up her box of medicine and handed it over, her arms trembling a bit.

Later, Giroro awoke by the girl's hearth, feeling much better than he had when he collapsed.

"What happened?" he groaned, sitting up.

"Giroro, this is Koyuki Azumaya," Natsumi introduced. She had learned her name when Giroro was still out. "She helped you recover—"

* * *

"You met Koyuki?" Dororo cut in. "I—So did I! I had no idea her place was a hot spot for travelers…. Strange."

"You know Koyuki, too?" Natsumi was a bit surprised. Koyuki must have been really courteous to have let in another demon into her hut, after she was so reluctant to let in Giroro. "She's a really sweet girl. I'm glad I got to talk to her, even if it wasn't for long."

Dororo stood up with a jolt. "That reminds me! I left the hospital in order to go see her. Oooh, that letter I sent so prematurely…. I hope she isn't too worried!"

"Geez, what did you do, tell her you were dead?" Giroro joked. But once he saw Dororo's grim expression, he promptly shut up.

"Yeah, so we met Koyuki in the woods, and she helped me heal Giroro's weird horn injury," Natsumi continued. "And after Giroro woke up, he told us that apparently a mortal demon's life force is connected to their horns. I think that's kind of dumb, especially since he's so reckless, but whatever. Now he just has to be more careful when we're fighting monsters." She ruffled his hair affectionately, and Giroro smiled at her. His fault for becoming a mortal.

"And after that, you decided to exorcise demons?" Fuyuki asked.

"That's right," said Natsumi.

* * *

The morning after Giroro's horn injury had been bandaged up, the two of them sought out Koyuki to thank her for all her help, and present her with a slab of monster meat as a token of their deep gratitude. However, they could not find her. After a minute or two of searching, they came upon a back door in the hut that led to a small but gorgeous shrine.

"What is this?" Giroro spoke, marveling at the carvings. "It reminds me of the war. But it looks so new. You don't think…. Is it Koyuki's?"

"Must be." Natsumi was staring at the ceiling of the shrine. "Although… it looks as though this might be a shrine for…"

"…angels?" Koyuki's voice finished. Natsumi and Giroro snapped their heads toward her. She was managing the nearby brush with a pair of shears, clearing it away to expose the shrine fully. "There would be a reason for that. This is a shrine for angels."

"Angels…." Giroro clenched his fists and surged forward. He would have maimed Koyuki, surely, had Natsumi not held him back.

"Koyuki… you worship angels?" Natsumi asked in shock. She bit her lip, trying to fight back tears. Angels were evil, worse than demons; everyone knew that. Yet, here was someone worshipping them blindly, someone who Natsumi had momentarily considered building a friendship with.

"Angels are not as bad as everyone says," Koyuki explained to her. "You know how people spread propaganda during war. It was the same thing for your hatred of the angels. People just don't understand."

Giroro and Natsumi both let out sighs, not sure what to say about this. Giroro had fought in the war; he had seen the angels' atrocities firsthand. So why was this girl revering them as though they were guiltless beings?"

"But… they killed so many," Natsumi told her.

Koyuki returned with a shrug. "So have demons." She crossed over to the open, back wall of the shrine, where a staff was hung. "Look over here. This was the very staff they used during the war to suck the souls out of unworthy creatures. It is not a weapon of murder. So why does everyone paint the angels out to be?"

Natsumi examined the staff. It was a pretty staff, granted. But wasn't sucking the souls out of creatures the same thing as killing them? Then she paused. "Wait a second. How does it work, exactly?"

"…I'm not so sure," Koyuki said. "It was never my job to know how the angel artifacts work, only to keep them in prime condition. But I would assume that it can take the soul of any type of creature you desire."

"So… like demons?" Natsumi threw out. Koyuki gave a small nod. "How about demons already _within_ a host body?"

"Sure, I guess," Koyuki said with another shrug.

Natsumi grinned, and turned to Giroro with a knowing look. Giroro's heart practically fell into his stomach when he caught that look. He was terrified of what she had planned.

"Koyuki, can I ask something very big?"

"Um… go ahead?" She wasn't sure what she was agreeing to.

Natsumi breathed and shut her eyes. Then she locked eyes with Koyuki firmly. "We need your staff."

"Wh-What?" Koyuki sputtered. "The staff? But—it's not mine! It's an ancient angel artifact!"

"Yes, and we need it," Natsumi said again. "With this staff, don't you see what we can do? We can exorcise all the demons from kids' bodies! They'd be safe from demons for the rest of their lives! Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Behind them, Giroro swallowed.

"Natsumi, I see what you mean," Koyuki tried to sympathize, "but this staff _belongs_ to the shrine. It isn't yours to take away, and it certainly isn't mine to give away. It has. To stay. Here."

Natsumi looked at the staff. She looked back at Koyuki. Then her eyes settled on the staff again. "I'm sorry, Koyuki," she whispered, as she tore the staff off the wall and ran away with Giroro.

"Wait! You can't do that!" Koyuki yelled, chasing after them.

She was only able to catch up for a mile or two, but after that, they managed to lose her.

* * *

"After saying good-bye to Koyuki, we headed to the nearest town and wiped out all the demons," Natsumi went on. She and Giroro had skipped the part where they totally stole a staff from the young priestess, and an _angel_ priestess at that, since they figured that if Dororo knew Koyuki, he'd probably tell her where they were at some point. Besides, it wasn't even a very important part of the story.

* * *

"Okay, let's test this thing out," said Natsumi, bringing the staff down on the ground as they set foot into the secondary schooling area in a nearby town. "Think it'll work?"

"Might not," Giroro said skeptically. "It's a pretty old artifact. Its angel mumbo-jumbo may have run out after ten thousand years." He dreadfully hoped it wouldn't work.

"Well, let's find out," she decided. She walked up to the nearest kid. "Hey, you, are you hosting a demon?" she asked.

"I am the demon right now," the kid replied. Or the demon, she supposed.

She pressed the staff to their chest. "I hereby banish your demon to the depths of hell!"

The person before her let out a mighty gasp of pain and fell to the ground. When they stood up, they felt around themselves in surprise. "I—I'm me again! Whoever you are, thank you! Ohh, thank you!"

Natsumi smiled and put the staff by her side. "Hear that, Giroro? I think we did good."

"I guess so," said Giroro, shivering a little in remorse. He couldn't believe what had just transpired.

"Now for the rest of the town." She brought up the staff again and the cycle continued.

* * *

"We've been exorcising demons for the last few months," Natsumi finished. "It's been going pretty well. Lots of kids saved, lots of demons killed…. Yup. It's been good. Couldn't ask for anything more right now."

Giroro opened his mouth, about to speak, then closed it in disappointment. Honestly he hadn't signed up for the Demon Exorcising Plan back when he purchased his mortality. But he let out a sigh. He still had mixed feelings on the matter. Part of him wanted to say that if it was what Natsumi wanted, then he would follow her whims. She was the one who inspired him with her ideals and determination, after all, and that was what he wanted to cherish. Another part of him told him that this was wrong. That was an entire species that she was exterminating... Those demons were part of his friends and family.

"I guess you actually are serious about killing the demons this time," Fuyuki told his sister. Natsumi was a bit confused at what he meant, until he gave a sinister chuckle. Then she realized, with much disappointment, that the Demon King had taken control of her brother once more.

"Look, I don't care what your deal is," she said frankly to Kululu, "but if you mess with my brother, I could exterminate you in a second." She waved about her staff threateningly. "So don't you mess with me, either."

"Nah, you like me messing with you," Kululu insisted, cocking one of Fuyuki's brows. He stepped closer to her in the tent. "Look, I know you've been through a lot, and you may be a bit confused…. Trust me, I'm pretty confused myself…. But things like your self-proclaimed boyfriend here ain't gonna get in the way of us, princess. Ku!"

Giroro gave him a vicious look. "You looking for a fight, Kululu? You may be the Demon King but I'll take you on any day. Natsumi and I are together, you understand?"

Kululu gave him a menacing look. "You're gonna beat up a fourteen-year-old boy? Gee, I've heard of you being dumb, but not _cruel_. Ku ku ku! That's usually my thing."

"I won't beat you up, but I can sure as hell make you wish you weren't on the human plane right now!"

Natsumi just rolled her eyes. "Ew, guys. I'm going to have to exorcise _both_ of you if you keep this up." She walked to the opening of the tent. "You two can stay here bickering about unimportant stuff, but I'm going to go find me a demon to kill." She took the staff and left.

"Um… you should come follow," Giroro said to Kululu, figuring out what Natsumi was about to do.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Kululu said as he marched out of the tent. Dororo shrugged and followed behind them, where they met Natsumi outside of the tent.

Giroro dashed after her. "Where are you going, Natsumi?" He tried to be loud so Kululu could hear.

"I'm going to go to the secondary school," she said. "Should be plenty of kids with demons there." She followed the quickest route from the town to the school, and in no time at all, they made it onto the campus. When they stepped foot into the area, however, all the kids were shocked to see Giroro with his huge horns. It was a demon in plain sight!

Dororo, however, they didn't really notice or care about, even though he was a teacher for some of them. Dororo retired to a corner and cried.

"Your savior has come!" Natsumi shouted, holding her staff high in the air. "I am the demon exorcist! And I have come to save each and every one of you here!"

There were whispers among the crowds of students and teachers. She heard someone say, "Hey, isn't that Natsumi?" and another one mutter, "Thought everyone said she was dead," and another one, "Nah, I guess she was just busy talking big about herself for several months straight and pretending that she was a demon exorcist."

A vein popped in Natsumi's forehead. She'd show them. She walked up to the first person she saw, a young girl with long auburn hair in twin tails. "You there. What's your name?"

"My name is Alisa Southerncross," Alisa reported.

"Very well. Alisa…." Natsumi lay the end of her staff on Alisa's forehead. "I hereby banish your demon to the depths of hell!"

"…Wait, what?"

There was a flash of light and the rather morbid sound of something dying off. Alisa fell to her knees and let out a choked gasp. "Nebula? …Nebula! Were are you? Please speak to me! No, this can't be!" she sobbed. "You were like a daddy to me!"

"I have released you from your burden," Natsumi assured her. "You are free."

Alisa just continued weeping.

"Dang." Giroro rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. He hated it when this stuff happened. This was the worst part of it all. "This took a turn for the worse."

"Now," Natsumi announced loudly, "all you demons, you've seen what I can do! The choice is yours to remain in your host or to die at my hand. You choose now! And if you don't, then I shall choose for you!" She flaunted the staff again, implying just enough to send all the schoolchildren into a mad-dash frenzy.

There was one demon, however, who did not run away from Natsumi. He ran toward her.

And then past her.

"Giroro!" The demon was Keroro, in Saburo's body. "Is that you? No way…. Fuyuki said that you had died along with his sister! But is it really you?"

Giroro lowered his eyebrows. "Um… you would be?"

"I'm Keroro!" said Keroro. "And you! Look at you! You gave up your immortality. Ha ha ha, that's the worst thing a demon could possibly do! And you did it! Oh, if only you could see yourself now—"

Giroro punched him.

"Ow! Yeah… you know, I think I'm going to flee along with everyone else," Keroro decided. "How do we get out of here, Giroro? Can you distract her or something?"

" _I'm_ not leaving with you, you moron," he growled at him. "I turned mortal for love, not that you would understand. Natsumi and I… we were going to be together." His eyes traveled over to Natsumi, who was in the process of terrorizing the school, and not being together with him. He frowned. "Well… uh… we _were_ going to be together." He cleared his throat. "In, um, just a few minutes. Augh, if it wasn't for this absurd mission…." He looked toward the sky and sighed. "You know, when I gave up my immortality, I didn't think things would be like this. I thought we would spar a bunch…. Go on a few dates…. Then get married and start a family. But Natsumi has other ideas. She keeps telling me, 'No, Giroro! I'm only fifteen! And we have more important things to do right now. Like exorcise demons!' I just don't get it, Keroro. Why doesn't she see that _I'm_ an important thing to do right now? I—I mean, not that I meant for that to sound inappropriate. It's just that, for the thousands and thousands of years that I've existed, I've never really been in a relationship with anyone before, and so I'm not completely sure how things are supposed to go. Is she supposed to start things? Am I supposed to start things? I just feel like all this ambition toward exorcising demons is kind of getting in the way of our relationship and all. And the whole exorcism thing is an entirely different issue on its own. But I haven't told her any of this yet."

Keroro just looked at him all squinty-eyed. "Dude, I just wanted you to tell me where the exit was, not for you to tell me all your problems." He waved his hand. "But whatever. I guess I'm leaving this place by myself."

"Um, I'll join you," Dororo decided, escaping from his corner of misery. "I have a feeling she's going to kill me, too, after I've tried to kill her brother so many times."

They both looked at Fuyuki, or rather Kululu, to see if he would go along with them, as well. But Kululu just stood there, watching Natsumi do her thing.

"I don't understand," he kept telling himself. "Why is she so slow? She does realize she can just wipe out all the demons here at once, doesn't she? Instead of killing them one by one?"

" _I think it's better that she does it one by one_ ," Fuyuki told him. " _Do you want my sister to kill you, too?_ "

"No, not particularly," he confessed.

" _Then what are you doing just standing there?_ " Fuyuki couldn't believe what he was saying. Wouldn't it be better for Natsumi to just kill the Demon King and free Fuyuki from his burden? He would have thought so, after all the flirting Kululu had done. But something in him just pitied the guy. With bitterness, Fuyuki realized that if Kululu was to run away, he'd probably let him. He might not see his sister again for a long while, but at least he knew she was alive this time.

Just then, Natsumi turned around and started heading back to Kululu in her brother's body, gripping her staff firmly. Kululu began to sweat, not sure of what was going to happen.

"You really want to kill me, don't you?" Kululu asked her. Before she could talk, he answered for her. "It's okay, I don't mind. I actually get it a lot, if you can believe it. And I don't let anyone have their way with me. You, however…" He took on that flirtatious look again. "…I might make an exception for."

Natsumi didn't even try to exorcise him. She just shrieked and whacked him on the head with the staff.

" _Ow! Sis_ ," Fuyuki mentally groaned.

"Ku ku ku. Well if you're going to act cold, then maybe I _should_ leave," Kululu told her spitefully. He headed toward where Keroro and Dororo were walking. "Don't worry! I'll come back later," he assured her. "Just not when you're trying to maim me."

Back with Dororo and Keroro, however, they were dealing with their own bit of confusion.

"You don't feel as if something's following us, do you?" Keroro asked Dororo.

Dororo, as a trained assassin, _did_ note that something felt amiss. They both turned around and were shocked to see a demon. It wasn't just any demon, however, but a younger, red-headed, slightly transparent one floating after them, looking over his shoulder and muttering, "She's gonna exorcise us all for sure!"

 _Uh… what is that?_ Keroro wanted to ask Dororo. But since Dororo wasn't saying anything, Keroro worried that he might have been the only one to see it. So he kept quiet and pressed on. In reality, Dororo was pretending like he couldn't see anything, either, because he worried that he was the only one.

By the time they had both turned around, Kululu just barely reached them until he caught sight of the demon following them—Tamama—and promptly headed the other direction.

"Well. Guess we're going this way, Fuyuki," he said.

 _Um… why can't we just go with them?_ asked Fuyuki. He couldn't see Tamama himself, being a human.

"Because I say so." That was all the reason Kululu felt he needed to give.

Fuyuki just sighed. They wouldn't have to be running away from anything in the first place if it wasn't for his sister. Honestly, he couldn't understand why she needed to exorcise demons in the first place. There were good demons, and there were bad ones. The one that returned to his dad was just an anomaly, so… besides ones like Kululu, demons weren't _REALLY_ all that harmful.

Weren't they?


	13. Blind Followers

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **So this chapter marks the end of the Gironatsu flashbacks! Hurrah! And into the bumpiness of their relationship.**

 **Thank you for all the kind reviews by the way!**

* * *

Natsumi was vaporizing demons right and left. All over the school, she kept finding students and killing their demons.

Fuyuki was horrified. She might not have agreed with the demons, but Natsumi was outright killing people! This was hardcore murder. How could Natsumi do something so cruel?

Some students seemed happy. Some like Alisa, however, were still crying over the loss of their companion.

Fuyuki just watched, trying not to let his own disgust mix with Kululu's intense lust. It was like Kululu was watching Natsumi with heart eyes!

This just seemed to make Fuyuki even more disgusted. He didn't want to know or have to feel anything about his sister and Kululu's previous relationship.

"Hey! Stop looking at my girlfriend with disgusting heart eyes!" Giroro hurled himself forward like a bull, as if the act of just looking at Natsumi called him forth.

Kululu stopped for a second to argue with Giroro. "Your girlfriend? Excuse me. I think she's much more interested in myself, I mean, we did share that romantic kiss and all. Ku, ku, ku." Giroro roared in anger.

" _Ugh. Don't remind me._ " Fuyuki wanted to barf. His first kiss... Tainted like that. His sister probably would never be able to look at him the same. He would get rejected by her worse than he had by his mother. And he would hardly be able to blame her.

Keroro skidded toward them, trying to look cool after having run away from the nearby damage to avoid Natsumi. Previously he had been going in a different direction than Kululu and Fuyuki, but seeing his friend Giroro heading in their direction, he thought maybe he could reason for his safety with him.

Kululu froze up for a second and looked behind Keroro, but there seemed to be no floating Tamama.

"Wow! Look at how far I can slide." Keroro was easily distracted and impressed.

"I banish you to hell!" Natsumi loudly yelled in the background inside the school. Keroro paled again, remembering the situation and that now wasn't the time for sliding.

"Giroro... you have to stop this!" Keroro begged.

"I know! No way am I going to let anyone, even the Demon King himself, flirt with Natsumi!" Giroro crossed his arms. Keroro's brows furrowed as he looked between Giroro and Kululu.

"Um... you guys _do_ know that that Natsumi girl is killing demons, right? Demons just like us? And this weird love triangle thing should really wait... And we should all be terrified for our lives!" Keroro waved his arms frantically. "Giroro! You have to stop her! They're demons just like you and me! Young demons, old demons, they might even be some of your friends or people you worked with who are dying."

Giroro looked down for a moment, sadly. "I... I know. But if it's what Natsumi wants... No, you're right, Keroro. I have to be by her side, helping her and supporting her. Not fighting with Kululu. Kululu is nothing to her, but I am something." He brushed off the fact that Natsumi was killing people, but he did seem to be expressing remorse. It almost sounded like he was trying to distract himself with Kululu from the horrible atrocities that he was taking a part in to help.

"Ku, ku, ku. And you call yourself her boyfriend! I bet you aren't even completely supportive of this whole demon-killing thing. You probably have your own feelings about it, thinking it's wrong or something, and you're too afraid of telling her because you think she'll turn on you, too!" Kululu prodded all of Giroro's insecurities.

Giroro bit his lip. "I have to go!" He ran off to go into the school and be by Natsumi's side, helping her kill his race.

"Giroro's... changed so much." Keroro seemed to be facing the reality of Giroro's new personality. "It's like he's possessed."

"By love?" Fuyuki asked, confused.

"No. By stupid," Keroro told the boy. Fuyuki nodded. He could see that.

* * *

Sirens went off throughout the entire town. The place was in chaos, rushing to the section that was dedicated to secondary schooling where Natsumi seemed to be causing chaos.

Police officers, cameramen, guards, all sorts of authority figures were rushing to take down this girl with the staff.

"Wanna fight?" Natsumi asked, rolling up her sleeves. It was better for her, anyway, if she kicked their butts in one full swoop. She had experience fighting the monsters outside of town. Adults were nothing compared to them.

Guards looked at each other and shrugged. One teenage girl couldn't be too tough could, she be? The cameramen zoomed in, ready to broadcast all over the news of what was happening. They wanted to know what Natsumi wanted.

The guards charged at her. Natsumi smiled. She was ready for this fight.

* * *

Natsumi brushed off her hands. A nice pile of authority figures were now laying on the ground as the council and government just stared at her in awe as if she was some sort of evil villain taking over their town.

"Can I have a microphone?" Natsumi asked. "I want to address the people." She took out her hair tie and redid her pigtails so she could look good on camera.

"Yes... what do you want from us?" the mayor asked, having her a microphone. Natsumi looked down at the people below her.

"My name is Natsumi Hinata. And despite what you think, I am here to help. You see I have learned the secrets that your society hides from kids like me. I have learned about the demons' true evil. And unlike other people, I am not about to just let this happen. I am going to stand up for what is right and for what I believe in!" she said. "For ten thousand years we have let the demons take advantage of us. Well, today, in this town, it ends. I will end all of the demons in this town and make a completely human town, filled with freedom and letting us rule ourselves!" Natsumi yelled.

The mayor clapped, tears coming to his eyes. People, humans all around, cheered. "So... you intend to be like our ruler and lead us to greatness?"

"I didn't say I was your ruler, but it certainly would help if you didn't attack me and helped me round up the demons here," she said.

"We... would love to. You are the chosen one, the one who has somehow gained powers to vaporize the demons. We'll do anything you command, Miss Hinata." They bowed.

Natsumi smiled. She took Giroro's hand in hers as people cheered for them. (Well, mostly for her.)

* * *

"Natsumi! You're... You're alive!" Aki, Natsumi's mother, ran toward her daughter, after being freed from jail.

Fuyuki watched from the background, too frightened to get any closer. His mother might still dislike him. He was happy enough to see their reunion, though.

Natsumi greeted her mother's hug and held her tightly as her mother cried.

"I am. I'm sorry that you were so worried," Natsumi apologized.

Aki pet Natsumi's hair, sniffling with happy tears. Her daughter was alive! This was something she had hoped for but didn't think could be possible.

"Mom. I'm going to do it. I'm going to free us all. I'm going to kill all demons," Natsumi told her mother, looking up at her with her eyes shining in dedication. Aki's mouth opened a little in shock of what her daughter had decided.

 _This is it. Mom will probably tell sis what she's doing is wrong now. I've heard this lecture before. "There are some bad demons, but good ones too. Just like humans." She'll talk some sense into sis!_ Fuyuki was still worried about the fate of the demons in the city, despite how much Kululu told him in his head that overthrowing the demons, while they had the Demon King himself in their town, wasn't an option.

"That's a great idea! And you have the means to do it?" Aki asked her, doing the complete opposite of what Fuyuki had expected her to do.

Natsumi nodded. "So you aren't going to give me that stupid lecture about how there are some good demons?"

"Of course not," said Aki. "After... After seeing what the Demon King did to my son, I've changed my mind. If there's a way to save Fuyuki, even if it requires killing all the demons, I'd be happy to go forward with it."

"I agree," Natsumi nodded. She hugged her mother tighter.

"Um... So this is your mother, Natsumi?" Giroro figured out, awkwardly standing by Natsumi's side. He had heard a lot about her family, but he hadn't prepared a speech for meeting her mother. Should he tell her that he'd treat her daughter well? That he'd be a good boyfriend to her daughter? He really wanted to get to know Natsumi's lifestyle and get in good with her mother if he was going to truthfully be a permanent part of Natsumi's life.

Giroro outstretched his hand to Aki's, trying to look professional and not nervous in the least bit. First impressions were so important and he had never honestly had a good track record with them. "Hello, Miss Hinata, I'm Natsumi's boyfriend Giroro - "

Natsumi turned to him and frowned. "Giroro. I'm trying to catch up with my Mom right now. Can this wait till later?" She seemed slightly annoyed at him. Yeah, a relationship was all well and good, but didn't he realize she had more important things to talk about with her mom than that?

"Oh." Giroro tried to hide his disappointment. "Yeah, um... maybe I should leave so the two of you can catch up? Sorry about that." _It's never time for our relationship anymore. Why is it always like this lately?_ He tried not to sound irritated.

Aki looked at Giroro in shock, though, looking up and down him always starting and ending at the horns. She finally just punched him in the face after her shock had finished.

"OW!" It was a hard punch.

"What was that for, Mom? Giroro's the exception to the demon rule! He's a nice guy!" Natsumi pointed out.

"You're dating a demon, Natsumi? I can't accept this. Not when we both agree all demons are bad! And this was the demon that took you away from town. Your demon! The one that whisked you off. I do not accept this relationship." Aki crossed her arms, disapproving. "Maybe you should think this through, Natsumi. There are other guys out there for you in the dating pool."

Giroro got up. _Oh joy. This was the exact response I didn't want her to have._

"Mom. It doesn't matter to me if you have to accept it or not. Only _I_ have to accept it." Natsumi defended her relationship with Giroro. Giroro beamed. "Anyway, I don't really want to talk to you about mine and Giroro's relationship. It's perfect, happy, and healthy, which is all I can say. It's in no danger of ending so your disapprovingness means nothing to me, really."

 _So... does Natsumi not realize how little attention she's been paying attention to me lately? I suppose it's good that she thinks everything's happy..._ Giroro wondered if this was good or bad information.

"But there are more important things for me to be talking about than Giroro." Natsumi switched topics. "Especially with you, Mom. I need to talk about the mission. My mission. To exorcise all demons."

Giroro's smile fell. Yet again, he wasn't the primary topic in Natsumi's mind. _More important than Giroro..._ The words rang in his head.

Yeah, things definitely weren't all happy.

* * *

Fuyuki no longer wanted to listen in on his mother and Natsumi's conversation. It would either make him sad or grossed out. He honestly didn't want to hear about Natsumi's dating life.

Instead, he went back to school to look over some of the crying students.

"So... are the demons... dead? Or did they just return home to the demon realm?" Fuyuki asked. Dororo was sitting by some students, trying to comfort them over seeing death up front for the first time and losing one of their possible friends.

"Sadly, they're dead," said Dororo. "The staff your sister carried was a weapon from when the angels were alive. It has the power to vanquish and vaporize demons souls. At least to my knowledge, it does."

Fuyuki nodded. He liked it a lot more when Dororo was being helpful toward him than trying to kill him.

"I thought the war would be the last time I ever saw it, but it seems to have returned," Dororo sighed. "I mourn my lost students... They didn't deserve to die for just existing."

Fuyuki nodded. "I'm sorry." He put a hand on Dororo's shoulder to comfort him, giving Dororo's shoulder a squeeze. Dororo smiled up at him.

"You are a good kid, Fuyuki," Dororo told him. "I'm glad I was stopped from killing you. I would have regret the sin for all my life."

Fuyuki was glad he wasn't dead, too.

" _Ah, get over it. Sure, his students are dead, but did you see the way your sister killed them? Amazing. Sure, she wasn't very good at it, but she'll get better with more practice. And at least she finished the job! Ku, ku, ku._ " Kululu seemed to still sound infatuated with Natsumi.

Fuyuki wished there was a mute button for his own head. He really didn't want to hear Kululu gawking over how great his sister was.

 _I can't believe that... at some point in time before my sister went missing, she and Kululu had a fling! Gross. He might have even been the one to give her that angel staff..._ Kululu seemed to be expressing no remorse for his lost demonkind. Even Giroro was better than this!

"Kululu... remember when I told you to get over your wife?" Fuyuki asked. He could hear a gruff 'mmhmm' from Kululu. "Well, I didn't mean like this! Please! Go back to your wife!"

" _I was never over my wife. You just told me to stop being so mopey about it. You're stupid for thinking that saying get over it would help,_ " Kululu pointed out.

Fuyuki decided not to open his mouth and tell Kululu that he had been telling people to get over death the entire day.

" _I'll always have her in my memories,_ " said Kululu.

 _So then... what's the thing between Natsumi and him?_ Fuyuki wondered. He tried very hard not to imagine what had happened.

It was too late, though. He had been dragged into fantasy land.

"Natsumi. I don't know how I met you or how I got on the human plane, but you're so pretty. And I really need to forget about my grief for at least a minute, so uhhh, let's bang or something." Kululu winked at Natsumi in Fuyuki's fantasy.

"Okay. I don't know why I'd agree to this, but sure! I'm Natsumi. Lol," Natsumi responded, totally in-character. They then kissed in a completely disgusting manner, their tongues fighting for dominance in a battle to the death.

"Ew... I can't believe that's what happened." Fuyuki snapped himself out of his fantasy. It was the only thing that made sense. Kululu had probably hooked up with Natsumi in grief, wanting a few moments of comfort from his thousands of years of mourning his wife. He probably was just filled with so much grief that the first convenient human he had seen he decided to spend some time with, and that human happened to be Fuyuki's sister.

Now that Natsumi was back, Kululu was desperate to end his grief and feel whatever he had felt with her before, and hoped to re-establish a relationship with her.

"Sis... why'd you do it?" Fuyuki cried, speaking out loud.

" _What did your sister do?_ " Kululu asked.

"You," Fuyuki whispered, hoping for Kululu to deny it.

But Kululu was just silent.

Fuyuki cried some more.

* * *

After vanquishing some more demons, Natsumi got on top of a rooftop with a loudspeaker.

"I want to speak to Fuyuki Hinata. Fuyuki, please... I need to tell you something. I won't vanquish any more demons until I tell you. I just... I need to talk to you," she told him. "At 7'o clock, meet me at my new house, the mayor's old home. We'll talk then."

Fuyuki sighed. He knew Natsumi probably wanted to fess up to the whole Kululu thing. He didn't want to hear it, but procrastinating on the knowledge wasn't doing him any favors.

So solemnly, he went to her.

* * *

"Sis!" Fuyuki smiled, seeing his sister sitting on a cushion. He ran up to hug her, but she stopped him.

"I don't want you close enough to kiss me," she warned him.

Fuyuki nodded. He understood. He sat in front of her.

" _I guess it is pretty weird for her to kiss her brother... Hmmm... What to do about this._ " Kululu didn't seem to be fighting for control, just thinking.

"I need to tell you something very important. Something that the Demon King has been keeping from you." Natsumi's muscles were tense.

Fuyuki sweated _. Oh boy. Here it is. I really do not want to know._

"Wait...Do you really want to tell him this? I mean, he is your brother..." Fuyuki knew that Kululu was talking to Natsumi now. Kululu seemed stressed. "But it could be really bad for me if this gets out. Do you have to be so sickeningly honest? I mean, I could get seriously hurt, and I know you don't want that!"

"Actually, that is what I want. To hurt you," Natsumi clarified.

Kululu frowned and cleared his throat. Things were not going as he had expected. He took a plate out of nowhere with some demon powers of his. "I... I made you some curry." His voice seemed almost shy, and sweeter than Fuyuki had ever heard him before as he offered the plate of curry to Natsumi.

Natsumi looked at it wondering if the Demon King had poisoned it. She took a chocolate bar out of her pocket and stuck it in. "I like it better with chocolate," she said, before taking a bite to calm down.

Kululu's jaw dropped. That was one of the biggest sins ever! Putting curry in your chocolate! But she had done it easily and seemed to honestly like it! _Gross,_ he thought to himself. But he had to shake off his disgust to try to convince her not to tell Fuyuki.

Slowly, he put his hand on her hand, stroking her fingertips and looking lovingly in her eyes. "You know, I missed you. I missed the feel of your skin, your touch, you waking up by my side..."

Giroro came out of nowhere and head-butted Kululu and Fuyuki in the gut. "That's enough of that!"

Fuyuki was winded. "Owwww..." He could barely breath from the impact. He hoped Kululu could help him heal quickly.

"Giroro! Giroro! Stop!" Natsumi yelled, trying to drag him off her brother. Giroro tried to bite at Kululu, who laughed at him and was still in control. "I need to talk to him." She finally grabbed Giroro by the ear and dragged him out of the room.

"Have fun~! Ku, ku, ku!" Kululu laughed, excited that Giroro was going to get chewed out by Natsumi.

"Ow, ow, ow..." Giroro groaned as he was dragged out. Natsumi bopped him over the head, looking very angry at him.

"What was that about?" she asked.

Giroro tried to explain himself. "Well, I... I um... know Kululu was your previous lover and all, and I know you probably broke it off with him long ago, but, uhhh he still seems very into you and I just thought that I better show him who you're with and - "

Natsumi bopped him on the head again. "You idiot! He's not my previous lover. And even if he was, you wouldn't need to show him anything! There's no love triangle here, Giroro. You are not involved in a bullshit love triangle," she growled at him. "I'm a warrior! Not some girl who's the main character in some teen romance novel."

"I... I know you're a warrior, Natsumi. Your warrior spirit has always impressed me," he said.

"I will not be the center of some lousy love triangle, Giroro. I need to focus on better and more important things than your immaturity!" she shouted. She was so loud that Kululu and Fuyuki could hear from the other room.

Kululu laughed a lot.

"Now, if you can't deal with my brother's demon, leave the room so I can talk to him myself. I need to talk to my brother," she said.

Giroro tried not to cry. So he simply nodded. "I'll... uh... go to another room..." He knew he was in the doghouse. He shuffled off and left. _This... This isn't what I imagined it would be... I mean, I love seeing Natsumi in action and her fighting and her warrior spirit, but our relationship... I keep messing up. Or maybe... she's growing tired of me?_

 _I wonder what happened to make her stop looking at me with love and adoration like she first did in the beginning of our relationship._ Giroro didn't realize, being inexperienced himself, that all relationships had bumps in them, especially after the first stage of puppy love. _Does she just not know how to maintain a relationship successfully while on a mission? She hasn't paid attention to me at all since we've stolen that staff. But... I don't know how to tell her I'm unsatisfied with how things are progressing and bringing up the status of our relationship. What if she just brushes me off in favor of the mission?_ he wondered. He slumped down in the next room over. His thoughts were all filled with Natsumi, verses the mission she had put them in.

He knew maybe he was just stressed out, too, because they were killing demons. His possible friends, family... They might fall to Natsumi eventually.

And he didn't know how to tell her anything about his life back on the demon realm and that he actually had people he cared about and that she shouldn't kill.

* * *

Natsumi opened the door to get back to Fuyuki.

"Sorry about that. You'll understand when you and Momoka are an item, but for now, I'm sure that whole thing was confusing." Natsumi didn't really want to get much into relationships with Fuyuki.

"Ummm... what about Momoka and me?" Fuyuki asked, confused.

Natsumi shrugged. "Anyway... I know you're a kind soul. You wouldn't let me murder the Demon King unless he did something really really bad." She paused. "And that's why I need to tell you he _has_ done something very bad. I have to tell you about what the Demon King has been keeping from you."

"Oh, come on, you don't need to tell him," Kululu spoke, trying desperately to keep Natsumi silent.

 _Why doesn't she need to tell me? I already know about her and Kululu's affair..._ Fuyuki thought to himself.

"Please, uhhh don't tell him," Kululu begged. "It _really_ could be very bad."

Natsumi grinned. She could see that the Demon King was frightened and she would do anything to keep him on edge. Crossing her arms, she looked down at Fuyuki victoriously as she told the Demon King's secret. "The demon possession thing doesn't end after two years."

"What?" Fuyuki and Kululu both yelled. "Wait... Why are _you_ saying 'what,' Kululu?" Fuyuki asked, "Wouldn't you have known this?"

" _Thought she was... um, going to say something else... Oh... wait, this is still bad._ " Kululu tried to distract Fuyuki from wondering about what else she could have said.

Fuyuki wasn't going to ask. He already felt like he knew. For a second he was just relieved he hadn't gotten the gross details about his sister's affair. And then he let the information sink in. "Wait, what do you mean it doesn't end after two years?"

"They're conning you. All the adults, all the demons, all of society, is conning us human kids." Natsumi told him. "There's a law, apparently, in the Nishizawa contract that we can't be told to prepare, but the demons prepare."

"Prepare for what? Living with us forever?"

"No... the fight," she said. "You see, there's only one soul in the body after the two years are up. The human and the demon fight to decide who's going to get the body after two years. This 'friendship fest' that goes on for the previous two years are just for learning the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent..." she spoke gravely.

Fuyuki felt fear setting in. He wouldn't be able to win in a fight against Kululu! He sucked at fighting. So... would Kululu get his body forever? And Kululu had known this! That was why Kululu was happy to have Fuyuki's body, because he knew he could beat him. "What happens to the loser...?" Fuyuki finally asked, after gulping in fear.

"If the loser is a demon, they go back to the demon realm. If the loser's human... well..." Natsumi looked down. "Their soul dies. They die, basically, and the demon impersonates them for the rest of their life. That's why adults on the streets don't talk to each other. They don't know who's a demon and who isn't."

Fuyuki felt frightened. "And... because I have the Demon King inside me... What's my fate?" he asked.

"The Demon King's never lost a battle before," Natsumi told him. "They started training his hosts five thousand years ago to try to fight him off, but... he's won each time."

Kululu stayed silent, hoping Fuyuki's naivete and inability to face the truth would make him refuse Natsumi's new knowledge. Kululu was right.

"This can't be true!" Fuyuki yelled. "Kululu's my friend! He wouldn't kill me!" Fuyuki knew Kululu was a jerk, but... they had been through so much. It just didn't seem likely that Kululu would kill him. "And how did you learn all this if you and Giroro are alive and well?"

"Well..."

* * *

"There's something I need to tell you, Natsumi..." That was what Giroro had told her and Natsumi had assumed it was going to be a love confession that he had for her. She awaited his words. "This whole two year possession thing... you've been lied to about it. I know I'm breaking some major rules by telling you, but it would be wrong of you to go in blind," he confessed. "It doesn't end after two years."

"...What?" Natsumi was super confused.

"After two years, we'll be forced into this realm to fight each other for dominance of the body. If you beat me, I go back to the demon realm and you're free of me, but if I beat you... you'll die, and I'll become you. Your body will be mine."

Natsumi was shocked. She just blinked, her jaw open, as the knowledge took hold of her. This hadn't been what she was expecting at all.

And... And the other kids, the other children, had no idea... She could probably beat Giroro, but people like Fuyuki... They had no chance. They would die.

Her whole society knew this. Everybody who had been through this knew this. Even her own mother probably knew this and couldn't tell her!

"I... I had no idea..." she said, still in shock.

"I... I also need to admit to you, that even though I told you this, I have no intention of going easy on you, Natsumi. I'm not going to give up. That would be an insult to you. I hope you're all right with that?" he asked. "Just because you seduced me doesn't mean I'll give up. So I'll still fight you with my all."

Natsumi blushed. _So he's seduced by me?_ she nodded. "I wouldn't expect anything less from you. Don't worry. I'll still kick your butt." She smiled. At least he wasn't as bad as everybody else, who had been intending to keep her in the dark about this.

"I know you will." He grinned, proud of his warrior princess.

"Thank you for telling me. I would have remained ignorant until the very end if you hadn't," she said. She squeezed his hand and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

Giroro blushed. There was training to be done, though. And now they both had to try their best now that there were no longer any secrets between the two of them.

* * *

It was months later before Natsumi experienced an emotion that she barely ever experienced - uncertainty.

She had been thinking about what to do about the Demon Fight for months. But what was going to happen was clear. She would win the Demon Fight and lose Giroro in the process.

She didn't want it to end, though - the sparring, the fun... She knew what was happening between the two of them. She knew she had fallen for her demon.

"Giroro..." She laid next to him after a sparring session. "I don't know what to do," she confessed.

"What to do about what, Natsumi?" Giroro asked. She looked uncertain, and he hated seeing her in battle with herself.

"The Demon Fight, society... A lot of things. But mostly us."

"Us?" Giroro asked, his heart beating faster.

"In... In our time together I've grown fonder and fonder of you, Giroro. And honestly, I've developed feelings for you," she told him.

Giroro's jaw dropped open. This was a dream, right? A very good dream, but it still seemed way too good to be true.

"I can face that I'm in love with you, someone who I once thought was my enemy, but I'm also scared... I'm so scared for once, Giroro," she said. She hugged herself, for once shivering, looking much weaker and more vulnerable than he had ever seen her before.

He hugged her. She was much smaller than him, but he hugged her anyway. "It's all right. There's no reason to be scared, nobody will find out," he promised. _I'll protect you._ Demon society and human society wouldn't get hold of her for falling in love with a demon.

"Them finding out about us isn't what I'm worried about, Giroro!" she shouted. "It's the Demon Fight!"

Giroro hadn't expected that. It wasn't like Natsumi to be frightened for a fight. Instead, she should be excited for it. "Why?" he asked.

"Because either way, we'll become separated," she said.

Giroro opened his mouth to comfort her. But he realized she was right. He hadn't honestly thought about that. He hadn't realized that he only had two years of his life with Natsumi. _That's too little..._ he realized.

"That, and I'm frightened for Fuyuki." She kept speaking, but Giroro didn't hear her. He only heard the part that concerned him. "He won't be able to survive his Demon Fight... I don't want him to be hurt."

Giroro just held her tighter and tighter. He had to find out a way to make Natsumi feel better.

* * *

The next day when Natsumi awoke, she was surprised to hear silence. Usually Giroro was doing morning drills in her head when she woke up, but today was not that day.

"Morning, Giroro." She tried to wrestle her demon awake. But there was no response. Slowly, Natsumi tried to probe the insides of her mind to figure out what Giroro was doing.

He wasn't there. Her mind was empty. She was free of him. "...Giroro?" She didn't understand.

"Natsumi." Giroro finally answered her, but not in her mind. Instead, she heard a voice coming from behind her. She turned around to see Giroro having his own body instead of being in her own. He was on her plane.

"Wh-what's going on, Giroro?" she asked, confused.

"I gave up my immortality," he told her calmly.

"I have the same lifespan as you now, we can be together."

"What? Why?" She was shocked he would do such a thing.

"Because it was the only way I could think of us being together and happy," he said. "I've found my warrior princess, the love of my life, and I'm not about to just have two years with you because I couldn't decide if I cared about you enough. I won't let our love be doomed." He bowed to Natsumi, hoping she'd lean down and give him a kiss or something. He waited her to smile, but he just saw shock on her face.

"Th-that... was a big decision, Giroro..." She was still in shock. "I... I didn't want you to have to give up your immortality just for me!" She seemed irritated.

"Don't worry. I thought long and hard about my decision. It took five hours to be certain that this was what I really wanted," he assured her.

She face-palmed at his stupidity. "What about your family? Your friends? You'd leave them all just for me?" she asked, angry at his decision. She didn't want Giroro to be an outcast of society just for her.

"None of that matters to me compared to you," he told her honestly. "None of it matters at all. Now that I'm mortal, I might be unwanted by both the human and demon realms, but it doesn't matter to me. I won't let you be hurt by this society. I don't want to be wanted by them, I want to be wanted by you." He kissed her hand, trying to be romantic. "I wanted... to show you how much I love and adore you, Natsumi, by doing this. Giving up the one thing that I know will now truthfully put us on equal terms." Giroro's eyes shined with romance.

Natsumi took her hand away. "But that was dumb. You shouldn't have given up your whole life just for me."

Giroro paled. "But I love you. I can't just let true love fall from my grasp."

Natsumi punched Giroro on the head, instead of giving him a kiss. "You're dumb!" she accused. "I cared about you too! I didn't want you to have to give up your home for me!"

"You are much more important than anything else," he said, trying to calm her rage. She seemed so angry at him.

Eventually, she calmed down. _Maybe his family and friends were just really mean to him, and that's why he's okay with leaving them. I suppose even his family and friends are bad demons. There really are no good ones!_ she decided.

She looked down at Giroro, who looked like he was worried he had angered her. Slowly and carefully, she placed her lips against his and reached her hands into his hair, letting her fingers weave through it.

Giroro moaned against her as she pulled herself closer into the kiss, deciding being angry at him forever wouldn't solve anything.

They kissed for a few moments more before Natsumi pulled away. "We can get through this," she told him. "Maybe... Maybe running off into the forest together would be the best option. That way, the humans and demons can't hurt you."

 _Running off into the forest with Natsumi? So... would that be like eloping? Constantly honeymooning everyday?_ Giroro smiled. He liked this idea. "Anywhere you want to go, I'll gladly follow."

Natsumi smiled back before kissing him again.

* * *

"He told me about the Demon Fight and then gave up his immortality for me," Natsumi explained to Fuyuki, a quick summary.

Fuyuki was just still shocked at the idea that he would have to fight Kululu.

" _Ku, ku, ku. Law-breaker. He shouldn't have told you. It's against the law. But... I suppose so is giving up your immortality,_ " Kululu decided.

"So... wait, it's true?" Fuyuki asked Kululu, shocked. A part of him still wanted to believe it wasn't true.

" _Uhhh.._." Kululu trailed off.

Fuyuki frowned, suddenly feeling anger toward Kululu. Natsumi picked up her staff, sensing her brother's anger and that now was the time to strike.

She leaped forward, about to put the staff at Fuyuki's chest. Before it happened, though, Kululu took control of the body and fled.

" _I'm not dying today,_ " he told Fuyuki.

Fuyuki still was confused. He didn't want Kululu to die, but at the same time, this new information was shocking and he didn't know what to do with it.

* * *

" _Let's leave town for awhile,_ " Kululu suggested to Fuyuki after getting far enough away from Natsumi. " _Your sister seems weirdly mad at me and I don't feel like dying._ "

"But..." Fuyuki didn't want to leave town. At the same time, he hadn't decided if he was willing to let Kululu die. There was a possibility that it was either his or Kululu's life, after all, that would live. "Um... Kululu..." He decided to finally ask Kululu about something that had been bothering him. "What's your relationship to Natsumi?" He needed to know. If they were as close as he thought, maybe there was some sort of ulterior motive for Natsumi to do all these things. Maybe Kululu wasn't going to kill him or something. He needed to know the full truth before making a decision.

" _She's in love with me,_ " Kululu answered simply. Fuyuki hoped he was just being egotistical and joking, but when he searched Kululu's emotions, all he felt was pure honesty.

It frightened him. It was probably the most honesty he had ever sensed from Kululu.

"Why is she killing demons, then?" Fuyuki asked. Kululu might not have an answer for this one!

" _Ku ku ku. It's very likely she's killing them because of her vendetta against demons,_ " he answered logically. Fuyuki's smile dropped. Yeah, that was obvious. He already knew that!

" _But... she might also be doing it because she thinks these demons don't like me. She'd be right, but she might be trying to make my control in the demon realm stronger and tougher, to help me out._ " Kululu sounded hopeful. " _She's probably playing pretend with that Giroro guy, pretending to like him, and pretending to try to kill me, so that nobody suspects she's trying to help me out._ "

Okay, Fuyuki knew this had to be a lie. But yet again, he felt no hint that Kululu was trying to jerk him around. He felt Kululu was actually being honest and hopeful.

Was Natsumi capable of manipulating this many people just for someone she loved? He wasn't linked to her, so he didn't know, but Kululu seemed quite certain of it.

* * *

"Saburo." Natsumi saw Keroro passing by as she tried to find more demons to vaporize.

"Um..." Keroro didn't know what to say. He didn't want to be vaporized. He looked to Giroro for help.

"If you're the demon, can I please talk to Saburo? I want to make sure he's okay." Natsumi seemed concerned. She had only spoken to him a few times, but she still wanted to make sure he was okay, since she hadn't vaporized his demon yet. She supposed she could have done it now, but she was so tired. So weirdly tired.

"S-Saburo only comes out for Fuyuki," Keroro said, stuttering a bit when Giroro offered him no help.

"Oh." Natsumi seemed disappointed. Giroro crossed his arms.

"This Saburo guy... Did you know him?" he asked. He tried to keep the hint of jealousy out of his voice. She had seemed awfully concerned about Saburo.

"I used to have a crush on him," she admitted after Keroro had darted away.

Giroro could feel his jealousy rise. "And now...?"

"I don't like him anymore. He wasn't interested," she said. "But I still want to save him from his demon. He doesn't deserve this."

 _Not interested anymore... Suuuuuuuuureee..._ Giroro didn't believe her. She seemed pretty interested. He was unaware it was just his jealousy reading subtext that didn't exist between the two of them and that she had acted concerned for all the students, not just Saburo in particular. He couldn't help but feel worried, though. What if Natsumi eventually left him for a more human guy? Even though he was the exception for demons in her mind, he was still a demon and always would be. Saburo wasn't.

"Tomorrow afternoon, I think I'll make a public example of who I vaporize next. That way, everybody can see how I can save them," Natsumi explained to Giroro, not picking up on his jealousy.

"Who are you going to use?" Giroro asked, hoping it wasn't Keroro. If Saburo was freed of his demon, that would make it even more likely for him and Natsumi to be together! Also, he didn't want Keroro to die.

"I remember seeing an adult demon when we entered town, don't you?" Natsumi reminded him. "If we show the people we can vaporize not only the demons in hosts, but also the adult demons, they'll be much happier with us."

Giroro scratched his head, confused. Who was she talking about?

"And... the adult demon sounded like he was Koyuki's friend. I liked the girl, but it was very likely he was an angel sympathizer. And I think we can both agree that the angels were worse than the demons. I mean, their weapons might be helping me now, but they were still much worse," she went on.

 _Friend of Koyuki...? Who does she mean? The only demon I remember mentioning that they were friends with Koyuki was Dororo... Oh crap._

"I'll vaporize Saburo's demon while I'm at it, too. I'll take down that guy with antlers and Saburo's demon at the same time," said Natsumi. "It'll really spark hope in the people's hearts!" She smiled.

Giroro's eyes widened in horror. His two best friends... They couldn't die... No, Natsumi wanted them dead, and he had vowed to help Natsumi in whatever ways he could. But if he told her she couldn't, then she'd probably hate him forever. But he couldn't just let them die.

He felt conflict burning in his soul. Fear, too. Anxiety grasped at his gut and he sweated in terror.

No... he couldn't let this happen. He wouldn't go directly against Natsumi's wishes. He'd just warn them a little so they could get away.

That way, she couldn't catch them, and all could be well.

* * *

In the middle of the night, Giroro snuck over to where he assumed Dororo would be hiding, on the outskirts of town.

Luckily, Dororo was with both Fuyuki and Keroro, as well. Keroro was there because Saburo wanted to be with Fuyuki, although Fuyuki was still very confused about the Demon Fight. Dororo was trying to comfort him, telling him that he tried to tell him.

"I need to tell you something." Giroro opened the door to greet Keroro and Dororo.

"Giroro! What is it you need?" Dororo asked.

"Natsumi's going to kill you and Keroro tomorrow publicly. You have to leave town and flee before she catches you, or you're dead. I can't help you, but I can warn you... I'm sorry, by Natsumi's side is the path I've chosen." Giroro honestly did look regretful.

Keroro and Dororo looked shocked that Giroro was just going to stand by and let this happen instead of talking to Natsumi. At least he had warned them, though.

"Wow. Betraying your girlfriend's trust? Beautiful. Ku, ku, ku." Kululu spoke up, taking control. "Knew you weren't a good stand-in. She probably confided in you, and the first thing you did was betray her," he scolded.

Giroro looked down, honestly feeling bad. "I... I didn't betray her!" he yelled angrily. He tried to calm his temper. "Things might not be going as romantically as I've dreamed between us, but that doesn't mean I don't still love her. I still very much love Natsumi, it's just... I don't want my friends to die for that love. Giving up my immortality is fine for her, but your lives shouldn't be given up for my romance." Giroro said probably the first smart thing he had ever said in the past two years. "I... I may be experiencing loyalty conflict because I'm still a proud demon soldier at heart, but I will always love her."

"Gross. You're still terrible for her," Kululu told him.

Giroro frowned. "I hope you go with them, just so you can't be anywhere near Natsumi," he hissed.

Kululu shrugged. "Was planning on it anyway. She seems mad, and I don't feel like dying." It would be best to step out of the limelight for a bit while she took over the town.

Giroro nodded and left so that the group could discuss the knowledge that they might die.

"We should definitely go," Keroro decided. "I don't want to die."

"I'll pack supplies. You always forget the important thing," Dororo said. He turned to Fuyuki. "I suppose it's not fair of us to ask you... but are you coming? I would prefer to be close to the Demon King to make sure he doesn't do anything terrible, but if you want him removed by Natsumi, that's all right..."

Fuyuki thought for a moment. This was a big decision. Did he want to be rid of Kululu once and for all?

"I know some people don't want their demons to leave, like Alisa. But Natsumi killed them without asking their permission," Fuyuki finally spoke up. "My sister is actually killing people. Real life people. And I don't think she really understands that. She thinks they're just pure evil and only sees things from her side, so she doesn't realize what she's doing is murder."

"I think... if this goes on, there might even be a war between demons and humans over the knowledge that Natsumi's giving everyone. She's breaking laws, and I doubt all demons are going to be cool with that," said Fuyuki. "I don't want a war. Not any war." He shut his eyes tight, recalling the Victory Festival. Even the war against their enemy, the angels, had caused people to die... innocents from both sides. Kululu was right. The angel children hadn't deserved to die, but they had, anyway, because of war.

"My sister came to this town because of me, to save my life. So... if the only way to prevent her from killing demons and causing a war is for me to flee, I'll do it," he agreed. "So take me with you."

Keroro and Dororo nodded. "We'd love to," they told him. They weren't excited about journeying with Kululu, but Fuyuki was nice enough.

* * *

Before the crack of dawn, when they were supposed to be leaving, Fuyuki snuck away from the group to talk to one other person before he left.

He needed to make things right with her before he disappeared, and he needed to ask if she wanted to come with on the adventure into the outside world.

"Momoka..." He greeted his friend by trying to desperately pull himself up to her first story window to talk to her, and by knocking on it. Momoka opened the window.

"Fuyuki?" She looked shocked. "What are you doing here?" She was in a nightdress and looked rather tired. She rubbed her eyes.

"I'm leaving, Momoka. I have to go out into the forest to flee, so that Natsumi won't have any more reason to stay here and so she doesn't kill Kululu," Fuyuki told her. "I... I wanted to tell you I'm sorry for hurting you. I didn't mean to. And I know now about what happens at the end of the two years."

Momoka was shocked. She gave Fuyuki's hand a squeeze. He needed support. "I'm sorry."

"Anyway... I wanted to ask you... Do you want to leave with me? I mean... I know you might still be mad at me, but... Well, we could see all sorts of cool monsters, and I'd love for you to come with us. It would mean a lot to me - "

He was cut off by Momoka's immediate response. "I can't."

His smile fell.

" _OHHH REJECTED!_ " Kululu wasn't helping.

"But not because of you. It's because the Natsumi thing... It's more serious than you think," she spoke.

"Hmmm? How?" Kululu asked for Fuyuki.

"People all over the world have seen the news reports of Natsumi. They're seeing her as a symbol, a hero, that they can destroy the Nishizawa contract. They feel like they can finally fight against the demons," Momoka told them.

"So that means things are bad for you now," Kululu deduced.

"If I left, the people would think that I was a demon sympathizer. They'd kill my parents and anyone who worked for our company. That's how serious things are right now. So... as a Nishizawa, I have to appear publicly to accept this new world, but to be willing to step in if things don't go right and pretend I was never with Natsumi. I have to be both neutral, and on the side of the people," Momoka explained.

"That sounds tough," Fuyuki realized.

"In fact, I'm seeing her today to talk to her and get some photos with her. I have to show the people I'm on the right side, even when I'm not," she said. "So I can't just disappear."

Fuyuki hadn't realized how complicated and big Momoka's life was compared to his. His was just all "cool, a monster!"

"Ku, ku, ku... Humanity can't beat demons," Kululu said. He laughed at humanity's stupidity. "They're just trying to revert back to the time before the contract where we could possess unwilling hosts at any time. It was harder for both sides, but it's the way things are going to go like this."

"Yes. It's the reality of the situation. But humanity is desperate," Momoka said. "In other towns, they've seen what Natsumi is doing, and the people have tried to model staffs like Natsumi's so they can feel just like her."

"Their staffs can't kill demons, though," Kululu pointed out.

Momoka looked down. "But it can bash their heads in if they hit them enough."

"But they don't know who's a demon and who's not," said Kululu. "The adults are very secretive."

"They don't need the adults. They have the possessed youths..." Momoka tried not to pale.

"You... You don't mean...?" Fuyuki found himself becoming nauseous.

"In the other towns, all over the globe, people have been rounding up their fourteen- to sixteen-year-olds and killing them to take the demon down with them," said Momoka. "Things... are getting serious all over the globe."

Fuyuki was horrified. "And my sister inspired such violence?"

"And she has no idea." Momoka played with her fingers. "She thinks she's helped humanity. But we're just killing ourselves and the demons."

Fuyuki fell down onto the ground under Momoka's window.

"You said you were leaving town, Fuyuki? Would you please do me a favor, then? To make up for strangling me?" she asked.

"Anything." Fuyuki desperately wanted her forgiveness.

Momoka snapped her fingers. "Take Tamama with you. I don't want Natsumi to find out about him and kill him, too."

Fuyuki didn't see anything in front of him, but Kululu seemed to freeze up.

" _No... No, please no,_ " Kululu begged, but Fuyuki's will was too strong for this. He couldn't see Tamama, but he smiled.

"I'll protect him for you, Momoka," he promised. Momoka smiled. She made a motion for Fuyuki to come closer to the window.

"Thank you. Please, don't forget about me. And I hope this situation is resolved soon so I can see you again." She gave Fuyuki a quick kiss on the cheek.

Fuyuki turned scarlet red.

" _OH YEAH MOMOCCHI!"_ Tamama cheered. Fuyuki didn't hear him, though. Kululu just pretended like he didn't exist, hoping Tamama wouldn't strike up any conversation. Maybe he could get rid of Tamama once and for all on this journey... Yes, that would do well.

Fuyuki skittered away from Momoka's windowsill and back to his friends.

* * *

"You ready?" Saburo asked Fuyuki, putting on a cloak so he wouldn't get cold and so nobody would recognize them. Fuyuki nodded.

"Are you Keroro or Saburo?" Fuyuki asked.

"Saburo right now. Don't worry, Fuyuki. I'll protect you when we're out in that forest," Saburo said with a smile. Taking the boy's hand, he lead him out into the world beyond.

And the six of them left town.

* * *

 **So...Kululu's and Natsumi's relationship, huh? Is he lying to be a troll or is there more to it? Who knows what their connection is?**

 **Got to make more Momofuyu scenes...No Momoka, don't leave us...Noo**

 **Please review!**


	14. Housekeeping

**[Insert author's note here]**

 **-Scissors**

 **(Rainbowkittyblossomwings here. Apparently they're getting materials even though they should have been smart enough to have materials before they left, so...Idk. Tell me in the review if you think they got materials at another town or were smart enough to get them at home. To prove something to my sister.**

 **Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, tell me they already had materials and it was pointless for them to get more.)**

* * *

First and foremost, the group headed toward a nearby town to do some shopping for the essentials, such as food, sleeping bags, tents, jackets, hats, and various hygiene materials like toothbrushes and whatnot. "But we're not going to stop for any machine parts or whatever," Fuyuki had specified, more for Kululu than anyone else. He knew that Kululu would likely get sidetracked and buy a bunch of things he didn't need, and they needed to travel light. Inventing was a luxury when you were on the road. They only had so much money on them.

When they exited the forest, the group came upon a large clearing that led into the edge of a town. "Wow," Fuyuki breathed. He had never been to another town before; he'd seen other towns in pictures, certainly, but being there was an entirely different experience on his own.

"So. Where to, Fuyuki?" asked Saburo with a smile.

Fuyuki pointed to himself. "You're asking me?" He didn't know that he was their designated group leader.

"Yeah. You decide where we go from here. What are we getting first?"

Fuyuki thought. "I guess we'll need to grab some travel backpacks first, so we can put all our stuff in them."

Saburo nodded. "Good idea." He let Fuyuki lead the way.

As they walked along, Keroro took control of him and leaned closer to Dororo. "Hey, Dororo," he whispered. "Who's the ghosty guy that's following us? Do you see him too?"

"Yes…" Dororo spoke. He hadn't realized Keroro could see him, too. "I think he's a demon, Keroro."

"But what's he doing here? Is he dead? Is he a spirit?"

"You could always ask," he suggested.

Keroro took a deep breath and turned around. "Hi. I'm Keroro. Who and what are you?"

The demon following them, Tamama, promptly paled. "Wha? You can see me?" He put his hands to his face. "How can you see me? I thought only Momocchi could do that!"

"Uh…" Keroro gave him a strange look as he continued walking backward.

"Oh, noooo! This is going so badly! This is not how I ever imagine it would go at _all_!" Tamama clutched his head and groaned. "Arrrg! Well, so much for first impressions…." He sighed. "My name is Tamama. I was Momocchi's demon."

"But… then how can you—"

"I came back to the human plane to stick with Momocchi," he continued explaining. "I mean, yeah, she totally trounced me in the Demon Fight, but she's a good pal, you know? Really understood me. I couldn't leave our friendship behind."

Keroro wasn't saying anything, so Tamama decided that this was his chance to finally pounce.

"So, um, look. Anyway, I've heard a lot about you, Mr. Keroro, and I think you're a really cool guy! I've _always_ wanted the chance to meet you in person." He quietly added, "As myself, at least."

"Huh." Keroro nodded his head. "That's neat. Never seen you in the demon realm."

Tamama's shoulders slumped. "I'm… not very popular in the demon realm." He perked up again. "But anyway, I'm so excited to be traveling with you! I bet we're going to learn _so_ much about each other on this trip." Giddily, he attempted to loop his arm around Keroro's elbow, but it went straight through. "Arg. I keep forgetting that I'm projecting myself here."

Keroro scratched the back of his neck and shrugged. "Oh, and this is Dororo, my friend I think," he introduced.

"You _think_?" Dororo repeated. He sighed. "It's nice to meet you, Tamama. I—"

"You'll like him. He's a brave guy," Keroro interrupted. "He played the Messenger of Death in a play once!"

"Yeah, I remember. It _was_ pretty brave," said Tamama, making an Excalibur face.

"Well, I was _intending_ for one of my students to play the part," said Dororo. "But nobody seemed to want to do it, so as a teacher, it was my duty to—"

"So anyway, Mr. Keroro, where will we be traveling on this trip?" Tamama interrupted, completely uninterested in whatever Dororo had to say. A vein popped in Dororo's forehead.

"Oh. I have no idea. Ask Fuyuki." He looked around. "Fuyuki! Where are you?" Since he was still walking backward, he found him by crashing into him.

"Ah!" Fuyuki yelped. "Saburo, you walked right into me! Um… who were you talking to?"

"I'm Keroro," Keroro clarified. "And I was talking to Tamama." He gestured to the red-haired demon, but Fuyuki didn't see anything there.

"There's nothing there," he said.

Dororo pointed a finger at Tamama. "Ha! Now you know how _I_ feel!"

"Wait," Fuyuki figured out, "you mean you two can see Momoka's demon?"

"Um… yeah," said Keroro. "You can't?"

"No," he admitted. "Saburo, can _you_ see him?"

Saburo took control of his body momentarily to tell him, "Nope. I have no clue what Keroro and Dororo are even talking to. I'm on your side, Fuyuki. There's nothing there."

"Maybe only demons can see him," said Dororo.

Fuyuki decided this was a possibility. He asked Kululu in his head, "Can you see him too?"

Kululu did not respond.

 _That's odd,_ thought Fuyuki. _Usually he's more talkative. A lot more laughter and stuff._ Well, the quieter Kululu was, the better. It meant that they would get into a lot less trouble when they were on the run from his sister, because that way they could remain inconspicuous about who they were… however inconspicuous a group of people talking to themselves and hiding horns under their cloaks could possibly appear to begin with.

"Well, wherever you are, Tamama," Fuyuki told the air, "we're all very glad to have you in the group. But we can't have you talking very much when we're in town, because people will start to act suspicious when they see Keroro and Dororo responding to you."

Of course, at the moment, it was Fuyuki that all the strangers were gawking at. Fuyuki did not seem to notice.

"Now off to the store we go!" He swiveled around and began to lead the way to the nearest store.

In the store, everyone pooled together all their money to buy three backpacks and a bunch of extra clothes. The nice thing about having a demon possessing you was that you didn't have to buy extra accommodations for them, because they could just mooch off of your own things. Unfortunately, that also meant they had no extra money.

"Okay. I think we've got everything," Fuyuki decided. "Now, we have to save the rest of this money to buy food for the journey and—Hey, Keroro! Where are you going?"

"I'm sorry I'll be right back!" Keroro shouted over his shoulder. In about half a minute, he had returned with a hat in his hands. "Look at this thing! Isn't it cool?" He put it on and struck a pose. "Do I look nice in this or what?"

Tamama clapped his hands excitedly. "Oh, yes, you do, Mr. Keroro! You look very nice in that hat, if I must say so myself!"

"Keroro. We can't buy that hat," Fuyuki told him. "We won't have enough money to buy food if we get it."

"But look how inexpensive it is!" Keroro insisted, showing him the price tag. Fuyuki's eyebrows raised. It was a pretty good deal… and a really nice hat, at that. "When am I ever going to find a hat as nice as this?"

"If anyone here needed a hat, it would be Dororo," said Fuyuki.

"Already got one." Dororo pulled out his large top hat from before and stuck it on his head.

Fuyuki just frowned at him. "Why didn't you just do that before?"

"I _have_ a cloak."

He sighed. "You can get the hat, Keroro."

"Yay!"

"But you have to pay for it."

"Oh…."

Keroro was sad, but he went ahead and bought the hat anyway. The rest of their money they spent on water canteens and food, all mostly canned goods and things that didn't need to be cooked, thawed, or refrigerated. But, like all shopping trips usually go, the group left the store weighed down with giant bags filled with more stuff than they intended on buying.

Fuyuki turned his wallet upside-down. A piece of lint fell out. "Well, there goes all my money."

"Same here," said Keroro. "Saburo's money, I mean."

"I'm broke now, as well," Dororo added. "It's been a few weeks since I last taught."

Fuyuki let out a sigh. "We really didn't think this through, did we?" He ran a hand through his bangs and adjusted his new backpack along his shoulders. "Where are we even going to stay?"

Dororo thought a moment. Then he perked up. "We could visit my friend Koyuki! And then I could tell her I'm not dead—Oh, wait, no." On second thought, he realized this would be a bad idea. He didn't know how an angel worshipper like her would fare against two to three more demons (one of them being the Demon King himself), and vise-versa.

"Maybe we could live in the woods!" said Keroro, a touch of adventure in his eyes.

"Yeah!" Fuyuki agreed that this was a great idea. "And we could research monsters along the way!"

"Cool!" Keroro smiled.

They high-fived.

"Woods it is, then!"

 _The woods? We're going to camp out in the woods?_ Kululu thought as Fuyuki and the others started walking. _Are they for real? We'll be eaten alive! I'm going to have to keep watch the entire night. I don't want to do that! And if we're trying to hide from Miss Demon Exorcist, the woods are pointless anyway because it'll be so easy to track us down with tracking technology that_ I _made._ He looked around frantically at the group. They all seemed to be fine with Fuyuki and Keroro's decision. _Somebody had better snap them out of this! But it sure as hell ain't gonna be me!_

Luckily for him, a miracle arrived. Keroro stopped walking suddenly—Saburo had taken control.

"Hey, Fuyuki…" he said slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Not to knock your idea, but are you _sure_ camping in the woods is the best way to go? We don't even really have any camping gear."

"Oh." Fuyuki stopped walking, as well, when he realized Saburo had a point. Then he smiled. "We could make a hut out of sticks and mud!"

Saburo shook his head. "Are you willing to do all that work just to hide from your sister?"

Fuyuki's smile fell. "Drat. Then… you don't suppose we could just find a friendly stranger who will let us stay a couple months at their place?"

Saburo nodded firmly. "I suppose that will have to do."

They began to make their way across town, but were stopped in their tracks as a large crowd of people blocked their walking path.

"Hey! Excuse us!" Saburo shouted. "We need to get through! It's urgent!"

"Ssh, the leader of the H.A.D. movement is speaking!" someone shushed him.

Saburo gave him a strange look. " ' _Had_?' "

"Yes, H.A.D.," the person said. "Humans Against Demons. Haven't you heard? Or have you been living under a rock for the past few days?"

 _The past few days?_ thought Fuyuki. _But in the past few days…. Wait a second! Don't tell me…._ He rushed to the front of the crowd.

"Fuyuki!" Saburo called. He grabbed Dororo's hand and rushed after him.

Sure enough, when Fuyuki broke to the front of the crowd, all his fears were confirmed. Hanging over the side of a building like a large billboard was an enormous video screen that displayed his sister.

"People of the world, if you have received this message," Natsumi spoke on the screen, "I am asking for your assistance. There are three demons I am after." She held up a photo of Saburo. "This is Saburo, a close friend of my brother's, and an important person to our town. Right now, the demon hosting him is Keroro. I need someone to deliver him to me, alive, so that I can exorcise his demon."

Keroro, in Saburo's body, began to shiver.

Natsumi held up the next picture, Dororo. "This one's name is Dororo, and although he looks very forgettable, I assure you that his antlers will give him away at once. He has been pretending to be a teacher at my old secondary school and spreading lies to the students in his history lessons."

"I was _not_ ," Dororo protested. Thankfully, no suspicious faces turned to him as he said this, because Dororo was just that invisible.

"I need him delivered to me, as well." She didn't specify whether she needed him dead or alive. Then she took a breath and continued. "And now for my last request. The Demon King has kidnapped my brother." She held up a picture of Fuyuki. "Well, he didn't really _kidnap_ him. He ran away with him. Because he's my brother's demon. I need him delivered to me alive. Whoever does so will be rewarded generously."

Gasps were heard in the crowd. Everyone turned to Fuyuki.

"It's him," they whispered. "He's the one with the Demon King!"

"Uh…" As people pushed him, Fuyuki stumbled away from the crowd, his back against the video screen of his sister. "No, I'm not _really_ Fuyuki Hinata, I just look like him!"

"Dude, she never said his name!" Keroro shouted to him.

"Oh." Fuyuki puffed out his cheeks in exasperation. "Oops."

The crowd charged at him.

Fuyuki let out a yelp of surprise. "Kululu, quick! Do something!"

" _What? What do you expect me to do?_ " he asked.

"I don't know! Use your Demon King powers to electrocute them or something?"

Kululu faked a gasp. " _I can't do that! That would be sooo mean_."

"Well, just do something!" he sobbed.

It was too late. He already felt a pair of arms wrap around him. So this was it, he realized. This was the end. This crowd was going to tear him apart for sure. But instead of tearing him apart, the pair of arms lifted him up bridal-style, and before he knew it, Fuyuki was carried off out of the crowd.

As they escaped the hoard of people, Fuyuki looked up into the face of his rescuer. He smiled. "Saburo!" he shouted in joy. He wrapped his arms around Saburo's neck so that he wouldn't fall.

Saburo tossed him a smirk. "I told you I would protect you, Fuyuki, didn't I?"

" _Groooooss! He should have left us back in the crowd_ ," said Kululu. Fuyuki tried to ignore the comment. Kululu became quiet, anyway, once Saburo broke out of the crowd and put Fuyuki back on his feet.

"Thanks for helping me out again," said Fuyuki, genuinely this time. Last time it had been Kululu who thanked him.

"No problem." Saburo gave him a pretend-salute.

Behind him, Dororo broke out of the crowd, huffing and panting, and Tamama floated up to them from a little ways away.

"What's going on?" he asked Dororo, since apparently Saburo and Fuyuki couldn't see him.

"We have to get out of here!" Dororo told him. "Or else they're going to kill us for sure!"

"There's nowhere we can go right now!" said Fuyuki.

"We could start by running away from the crowd," Saburo put in.

He was right. They needed to get out of there. People from the crowd were already beginning to realize where Fuyuki and the others had escaped to.

"F-fine! Then let's go!" said Fuyuki. He grabbed Dororo and Saburo's hands and frantically started running away with them.

The group had no idea where they were going. Fuyuki led them to the edge of town, where they hopped over a fence and escaped into the woods. However, all the people crowding around the video screen spotted this and started seeping toward Fuyuki and the others. Fuyuki's heart pounded in his chest. He had no idea what to do to lose this determined group.

"We're just going to have to run through the forest and hope for the best," he told Saburo, Dororo, and presumably Tamama. "Maybe we'll find someplace to stay if we're lucky."

"Good thinking, Fuyuki," Saburo complimented, even though it was horrible thinking. They didn't really have any other options at that point. He glanced over his shoulder. "Umm… you can lead the way!"

"Okay." With Fuyuki's keen intellect and curious tendencies, he knew he wouldn't disappoint.

He started running and the others quickly followed. They ran for a full fifteen minutes until they felt that they had lost the hoard of people. Fuyuki stopped at a small clearing and collapsed on the ground to let himself catch his breath. He didn't think he had ever run so far, or so fast, in his life.

"You… all right, Fuyuki?" asked Saburo, also panting from the long run.

Fuyuki could just barely nod in response.

Tamama snickered at them, for once prideful of his transdimensional existence, because he never exerted himself.

"Think we lost them?" Dororo asked.

"I sure hope so." Fuyuki forced himself to sit up. "But just in case, we should find a place to hide ourselves. And not just for the night…. I don't want to do this much running ever again!"

"That's a fantastic idea, Fuyuki, but where do you suggest we're going to find a place like that?" Dororo asked him.

Fuyuki shrugged. He hadn't thought that part through yet. "I guess we'll just keep walking until we find something."

 _I'm going to have to do it, aren't I?_ Kululu realized with a sinking feeling, hiding away in the depths of Fuyuki's mind. _There's only one place I can think of that's hidden from the humans…. But no one else has been inside for ten thousand years._ He didn't know what to do. Even so… Fuyuki had a point. If Natsumi really had started up some civil war-like movement, and people were chasing after them constantly, then they needed a permanent place to stay, well-guarded enough that no one would be able to find or get inside. He mentally sighed. He'd have to do it Right now, it seemed going there was their only option.

After a minute or so of walking, Fuyuki's feet started walking on their own, and in a different direction. He realized that Kululu must have been leading them somewhere.

" _Kululu, where are you taking us?_ " he asked.

"Nowhere in particular," he mentally responded. "Look, if you want to get in good with the rest of the group, you're gonna have to stop asking questions, all right?" When Fuyuki didn't seem satisfied by that response, he gave in. "You can thank me later. But in return I'll need you not to mention my name, even once, while we're on this trip."

Fuyuki decided that made enough sense. If they went to town and started talking about the Demon King, people would try to kidnap Fuyuki again. " _It's a deal. I won't talk about you while we're in town_."

"No. I meant… to the group," he clarified.

" _Um… why?_ "

Kululu was silent. Then he told him, "No reason. I just… think it would be better not to stir up resentful feelings, that's all. Because your teacher wanted to kill me at some point. And I electrocuted Keroro. I'm sure I've done something to anger that Tamama fellow, too. Wouldn't be surprised. I've pissed off a lot of demons throughout the years. So it's just better that you don't remind them that I exist, and then they won't try to kill us."

Fuyuki supposed that, too, made enough sense, but it still sounded aaaawfully suspicious. He was going to have a talk to Kululu later about withholding important information from him. Maybe he could address this, as well.

After about another hour or so of walking and electrocuting passing monsters that tried to attack them, Fuyuki could feel his legs getting horribly tired, even though he wasn't the one using them to walk. He hoped that wherever they were going, they would get there soon. But it wasn't soon—in fact, it was another hour until they finally reached the edge of the forest. As the group peeked out from the trees, they were greeted with the sight of distant mountains and a lake. Cushioned within overgrown bushes, ivy, and alder saplings seemed to be some sort of concrete structure.

"I bet we can stay in there," Fuyuki heard himself saying. He knew it was Kululu who said it.

"Wow." Saburo just gaped at the view. "Fuyuki, you have got some great eyes."

"And luck!" Keroro added, taking control for a moment.

Dororo marveled at the scenery, as well. "I must agree. This is a gorgeous place we stumbled upon. Good work, Fuyuki. As your teacher, I'm proud of you."

Kululu smiled. "Thanks, guys."

 _He's… pretending to be me?_ Fuyuki wondered. _But why?_

"Well, without further ado," said Keroro, cracking his knuckles, "let's check this place out." He started walking forward.

"Wait!" Kululu stopped him from going any further. "Let me…. Uh… I want to check in there to see if there are any monsters first. So that I can research them. You guys might scare them off."

"Oh, yeah, I probably would." Keroro waited there. "You can go on ahead, then, Fuyuki. Good luck! Don't get eaten!" he called to him as Kululu walked toward the concrete structure.

Dororo turned to him. "Don't you think we should go with him and make sure any monsters don't eat him?"

Keroro thought a moment. "Nah," he finally said. "I'm sure he'll do fine on his own."

When Kululu approached the large structure, he glanced over his shoulder, pulled away a bit of ivy, and input a code into a pad on the wall of the concrete. Then he pushed open the door and stepped inside the building.

Fuyuki was amazed. The floor of the place was littered with metal workings and various materials, as well as piles and piles silverfish-eaten parchments that resembled what could have only once been blueprints. All the furniture looked like petrified wood, and aged dishes were strewn all over the countertops and tables.

"Ku ku ku… god, this place is a mess," Kululu muttered as he scooped up all the litter from the floor. "Is that a dead squirrel? Disgusting…. Ugh." He carried over all the things from the floor into a large closet, where he tossed them inside. He brushed the dust off his hands and wiped them all over Fuyuki's cloak. "Let's see… no monsters over here. Nope." He went back into the first room and gathered up some bedding and clothes from the sofa. Several mice poked their heads out, and Kululu dropped the bundle to the floor. "I'll burn that later," he said to himself.

" _Um… Kululu?_ " Fuyuki asked. " _Where are we?_ "

"A place," Kululu answered with tremendous explicitness. He opened up a drawer by one of the counters and took out a key ring, then went to several doors in the "place" and locked them. He was about to lock the last door, as well, but his hand hovered over the handle, as if he was frightened to open it. Finally, he turned the handle, and pushed the door opened. Fuyuki's eyes were greeted with the sight of a bathroom that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a thousand years. Kululu closed the door. "I'll keep that one unlocked," he decided, just to be mean.

Kululu went back to the front door and opened it up. "All's clear!" he shouted.

"Any monsters?" Keroro asked as he, Dororo, and Tamama rushed up to the house.

"Just one," he lied, "but I scared it off before I could take any pictures."

"Oh. Too bad," said Keroro. He poked his head inside the house and walked in. "What is this place? It's hideous!"

"I know," Kululu agreed.

Keroro was much more nosy than Dororo, so he poked around a bit, while Dororo attempted to sit down on one of the sofas. It was sittable, at least, but not very comfortable.

Fuyuki heard the sound of a door opening and closing, and then Keroro came back into the room. "Um… guys? I think I know why this house looks like it hasn't been cleaned," he said. He led them over to one of the doors that Kululu hadn't locked. "Look in there," he instructed.

Fuyuki, under Kululu's command, turned the handle and popped the door open.

There was a skeleton in the room.

" _AAH!_ " Fuyuki mentally screamed. " _Kululu! Shut the door! Quick!_ "

"Relax," Kululu told him in his head. "It's _my_ skeleton."

" _Why do you have a skeleton?_ "

"Everyone has a skeleton," Kululu said jokingly. "If we didn't, then…. Well, we'd all be in major trouble! Ku ku ku!"

" _Wait…. What do you mean?_ " Fuyuki asked slowly.

Mentally, Kululu sighed. "I suppose you ought to know. After your sister went and told you about the Demon Fight…. Whatever. It's my skeleton, and the rest of its body decomposed after my previous host life ran out."

"… _What?_ " Fuyuki didn't understand.

"I'll explain things later. Just be quiet for now," he told him. Kululu went back to talking regularly. "Cool! A skeleton!" he shouted, pretending to be Fuyuki. "I bet it belonged to a monster of some sort. Here, open that window and let's dump it out."

"Um… okay?" said Keroro, a bit confused. He and Dororo smashed open a window with a rock, since it was too old to open on its own, and Kululu lifted the skeleton through the window. It fell and landed on top of nine other skeletons just like it. After Kululu brushed off Fuyuki's hands, Keroro and Dororo now looked at the boy with newfound respect for hauling a skeleton across a room with his bare hands.

Kululu faked a yawn. "Wow, all this walking has made me tired. Why don't we call it a day?"

"In this place?" Keroro made a face. "Wasn't somebody living here at some point?"

"It should be all right," said Dororo. "The last person who was living here is dead now. I'm sure its previous owner wouldn't mind if we borrowed their house in a drastic time such as now."

"I dunno," said Tamama as he floated through the wall and into the room. "This house kind of gives me the chills."

Kululu's eyes widened and he paled. _Shit! Tamama! I forgot that he was here!_

"Like, for example," Tamama told them all, "in that bedroom down the hall, there's a pile of really old feathers—"

"WHO WANTS FOOD!" Kululu lifted up the food bag for all to see.

"Ooh! I do!" Keroro snagged the bag and together with Dororo, they ate to their hearts' content.

Kululu released his breath. Then he glared at Tamama. What could he do with that brat? Clearly, locking the doors hadn't kept him from wandering places he shouldn't have been able to see. Maybe it was time for another update on the place. Electrocute some transdimensional demons while he was at it. Yes, that would do nicely.

At the moment, Tamama had no choice but to rest with the others, since nobody was going to listen to what he had to say.

As Keroro stuffed his mouth with food, he beamed at Fuyuki. "Thanks, Fuyuki!" he told him. "You really are the best."

Kululu let Fuyuki take control of the body at last, but Fuyuki didn't know what to say in response. "Um… you're welcome, I guess?" He shrugged. "It was really nothing. At least we should be safe here, even if there are skeletons and dead squirrels."

"Dead squirrels?" Keroro swallowed his food. Suddenly he didn't feel so hungry anymore. "Yeah… I think I'm going to hand the body over to Saburo now."

Saburo groaned. "He always eats too fast! Augh. I don't get it. He's a demon! He doesn't even _need_ to eat."

Fuyuki laughed. "Be sure to drink lots of water."

He supposed maybe this house wasn't perfect, but at least it was a place to stay for them. He left him and went to look for Dororo, who he found outside the house, staring at the lake. Fuyuki looked up at the sky. It was already becoming dark, and the stars were coming out. He took a seat by Dororo.

"Hey… thanks for not killing me anymore," he said to him.

"Oh. No problem," Dororo said. He let out a sigh and looked out toward the lake.

"You thinking about something?" Fuyuki asked.

"Just… a friend." His eyes looked rather sad. "I thought for sure that Kululu had killed me… so I sent her a letter saying that I was dead. I hope she's doing all right."

"She's probably worried about you," Fuyuki told him. Dororo looked frightened. "But…! That's a good thing," he quickly told him. "It means she cares for you. And I bet she did. A lot."

Dororo twiddled his thumbs. "I don't know. Maybe it's better if she didn't."

"Don't say that," he pleaded. "Everyone deserves a friend. Even you, although you tried to kill me. I mean, I guess you had your reasons." He was about to mention Kululu, but decided otherwise, after promising Kululu that he wouldn't talk about him to the group.

"Yes. Now you have someone else to worry about," Dororo said, narrowing his eyes. "You sister isn't trying to kill you, but she is starting a war. What will you do about it, Fuyuki?"

"I—I'm not quite sure yet." He looked at the ground. "I don't know if talking sense into her is going to help at all, because sis is pretty, well, _stubborn_. She thinks that was she's doing is right. Don't you hate it when people are like that? When they're so blindly following something they believe in that they completely disregard all the people they're hurting?"

Dororo thought about Koyuki and how she worshipped the angels, a species that had committed horrid atrocities during the war. "Yes, it is difficult to see eye-to-eye with people like that. Sometimes you have to ignore that aspect of a person in order to appreciate them for who they truly are, not just what they grew up believing."

"Oh. That's not what I meant at all," said Fuyuki. Dororo shut his mouth. "Did you…. Is your friend like that?"

Quietly, Dororo nodded.

"I'm sorry," he said. "But it's good that you two are friends, anyway." He gave him a pat on the back and walked off, back into the house where it was slightly warmer.

In the living room, he found Saburo sitting on the sofa with a really old, moth-torn book in his hands. "Wow. Whoever was the owner of this house must have really adored quantum physics and bioengineering," he commented. He took a look at the author of the book: THE DEMON KING. "Oh." He put the book down and cleared his throat. Then he scooted over to give Fuyuki room.

Fuyuki plopped down next to him and leaned his head against the back of the sofa. "What a day," he breathed. "I might fall asleep right here."

"Yeah," Saburo agreed. "You know… it was really brave of you, to run away from your sister."

"You think so?" he asked, a tiny bit flattered. "What about you? Did _you_ want to leave?"

"Well, I've gotten to know Keroro a bit, and I would feel kind of bad to have him die inside of me," he admitted.

"I see." Fuyuki considered this.

"However…" Saburo smiled a bit and bashfully scratched the back of his neck. "I don't particularly mind being on the run. It wasn't like life back in town was very promising for me, anyway. Besides… at least I'm here with you! Right?"

"Right!" Fuyuki smiled back. But he was getting soooo sleepy. He yawned and let his head fall wherever. It happened to fall onto Saburo's shoulder. Saburo gave a startled look, but let Fuyuki rest there, knowing that he was tired after a long day of travel, emotional stress, and carrying skeletons. He rested his hand around Fuyuki's shoulder, testing the waters, and then put his arms around him like a blanket.

Fuyuki welcomed the feeling of warmth around him. Thinking back on the events of the day, he lightly touched his cheek.

Noticing this, Saburo smiled softly. "What's on your mind, Fuyuki?"

"Oh. I was just thinking…." Fuyuki blushed a little. "Right before we left, I visited Momoka and… well… she sort of kissed me on the cheek." He looked to the cracking ceiling. "I hope she's doing all right."

Saburo did not comment. Instead he unhooked his arms from around Fuyuki and went a ways off to sleep by himself, most likely to have Keroro take over and chat with Tamama.

"Huh. That was strange," Fuyuki decided. "Guess I'll stay here to sleep, then." He laid himself completely over the sofa like a greedy hog, and then the snores took over.

After about a minute, he propped himself upright and walked over to the closet, which he unlocked with the key in his pocket. Kululu was in control again. He stepped into the small room and lit a candle, since the lights didn't work anymore. Kululu began to put materials and machine parts together, inventing something to update the house with that would keep demons like Tamama out.

" _So… Kululu_."

Kululu jolted. He hadn't realized that Fuyuki was still conscious.

" _You were going to explain some things?_ "

"Um… about what?"

" _About this house_." Fuyuki sounded angry. " _And about the Demon Fight_."

Kululu sighed. "We're going to fight when your two years are up, all right?" he told him. "We were going to fight in the mind realm, I was going to win, and then I would continue living the rest of your life here on the human plane, until your body grew old and died, and then I would return back to the demon realm and wait another thousand years till I got to clean my house again."

Fuyuki honestly wasn't sure he understood any of that.

" _So… this is your house?_ " he asked.

"Yes. That's correct."

" _How long has it been here?_ "

Kululu tried to remember. "A little over ten thousand years, I'd say."

Fuyuki couldn't believe it. Ten thousand years? And it hadn't been destroyed by any monsters yet, or demolished by any humans? That was practically unbelievable!

"I usually go back here after killing my hosts, but… I guess Christmas came a little early," he joked.

" _What would_ …" Fuyuki swallowed. " _Assuming you WOULD win the Demon Fight, what would else would you do with my body?_ "

"Eh." Kululu shrugged. "Probably just invent junk and give it to the humans so they can satisfy themselves. Then I would just wait to return to the demon realm."

Fuyuki realized in horror that by "waiting," Kululu meant "waiting to die." How many times had he died, he wondered? Was it painful each time?

With a sigh, Kululu confessed, "It's not that thrilling of a life. Things expire much too quickly in the human realm."

" _Ah_." He pondered this.

"Honestly, I'm a bit surprised," Kululu said with a light chuckle. "Thought you would have let your sister exorcise me for sure. Everyone else wants to kill me. So why not you? Even after learning that I was going to kill you after these two years are up, you still were against killing me. You claim it was to prevent a war, but I can't help feeling flattered." His eyes slipped into a glare. "Either that, or you're a complete moron. And knowing you, it's definitely the second one."

" _All right. So maybe I'm a bit of a moron_ ," Fuyuki agreed, " _but I can't just let someone die. Not anyone_." He added, " _Not even you_."

"Thanks."

" _You're welcome. Natsumi's just killing demons blindly because she thinks they're pure evil. Besides Giroro, I mean_." His tone turned tender. " _And if there's one thing I know about you, it's that you're not pure evil_."

"Ku ku ku! Of course I am. Everyone knows that."

" _Yes, you say that, and you try your hardest to believe it_ ," Fuyuki went on, " _but you know deep down that it's not completely true_." Memories flashed in his head of the somewhat innocent Kululu he'd seen in Kululu's memories, his sensitivity during the Victory Festival that caused him to lash out, his remorse regarding the deaths of all the angel children, his joy of inventing for the sake of inventing. Yes, he did flirt with Fuyuki's sister, which was totally weird, but Fuyuki could put that thought aside for the time being.

Kululu didn't respond. He might have been contemplating Fuyuki's words; then again, he might have started ignoring them altogether.

" _So I can't let Natsumi kill you_ ," Fuyuki finished. " _I don't want you to kill me in the Demon Fight, of course, but that won't be for two years. I can think of some way to survive until then, or maybe even find some way out of it_."

After a long period of silence, Kululu finally spoke. "Two years ain't nearly as long as you think they are, kid."

* * *

As if Kululu had been intentionally trying to prove Fuyuki wrong about the whole "you're not pure evil" thing, Fuyuki awoke the next day to a screaming Saburo. Well, Keroro.

"THAT DOES IT! WHO SWITCHED MY TOOTHBRUSH WITH DORORO'S?!"

"What?" Dororo pressed a hand to his lips. "Who would do such a cruel act?"

"I don't know, I don't know!" Keroro clutched his hair in devastation. "After I used it last night, it was right here on the counter, in the _green_ cup! But suddenly it's in the blue one? Why? Why does the universe hate me?" He fell to his knees, weeping loudly and dramatically.

Dororo shed tears, as well. This was just too mean.

"I'm… confused," Tamama told them. "What happened? Why is this such a bad thing?"

"And look at this!" Keroro held up Saburo's clothes. "Why are there white stains on these shorts? We got these yesterday! So WHO POURED BLEACH ON THEM?! THIS ISN'T FUNNY!"

Kululu just let out a small "ku ku ku," only loud enough for Fuyuki to hear.

" _Kululu!_ " he scolded him. " _That wasn't very nice!_ "

"Whatever," said Kululu.

But when Fuyuki was about to put on his own clothes, he noticed that they had been splattered with bleach, as well.

"My clothes are ruined, too!" Dororo cried.

"And these food boxes are filled with silica gels! And my shoes are filled with sand! And the aglets were removed from the shoelaces! And my bedding is riddled with metal springs!" Keroro ranted.

"Me, too! Me, too!" Dororo complained.

"But the worst thing of all…." He gulped. "SOMEONE DOODLED A FACE ON MY NEW HAT!"

He held it up for all to see. Everyone was silent, however, because this was the least harmful thing that had happened.

"Something's going on in this house and I'd like to know what," said Tamama. "Last night, I couldn't go through some of the locked doors! I think this place may be haunted, you guys."

 _Yesss… so my update worked,_ Kululu cheered.

"I can't take this. I can't go on in the human realm on without a cool hat." Tears streamed down Saburo's face under Keroro's command. "I'll have to go to town to get a new one."

"What?" Fuyuki asked him. "You can't do that! What if someone sees you?"

"I'll wear a cloak!" Keroro tosses a cloak over himself. It had white spots on it, too. "Ohgoddamnit," he muttered. "I'll get some food and some new cloaks while I'm there."

"Wait!" Tamama floated over by his side. "I'm coming with you."

"Um… okay?" said Keroro. "See you guys later. And whoever did all the pranks, I'll be watching you!" He made the two finger sign to emphasize this.

After Keroro left, Fuyuki asked Kululu, "It was you, wasn't it?"

" _Not my fault_ ," Kululu denied. " _They were asking for it. Whoever they are_."

Fuyuki sighed. "What did they do?"

" _It's nothing_ ," he dismissed. But he knew Fuyuki wouldn't take this as an answer. " _Someone opened one of the doors that I locked. I don't even know how they got my keys. I had them the whole night_." He would have grimaced if he was in control of Fuyuki's facial features just then. " _It was a disrespectful invasion of privacy, and whoever they are, I will thoroughly make them pay._ "

Okay then, Fuyuki thought. "Did you remember to lock the room after it was unlocked?"

Kululu thought a moment. " _Shoot! I didn't. I'd better go do that, then_."

He took control of the body and walked over to one of the door at the hall. It was open just enough for Fuyuki to catch a glimpse of what was inside. He didn't see much, but he could tell that the paint on the walls was chipping severely. The room and all its contents were coated in dust and plant debris, as if it hadn't been touched in several millennia. Even creepier, for a second there, he almost thought he saw the shape of a crib. Before he saw anything else, however, Kululu quickly shut the door and locked it.

* * *

When Keroro and Tamama headed into the nearest town, they were not surprised in the least bit when yet another video screen displaying Natsumi, Exorcist and Symbol of the H.A.D. Movement, greeted their eyes.

"Not again," Keroro groaned. "I just wanted to get a hat! Oh, and also food."

"I thought you had no money," Tamama reminded him.

"Not a problem." Keroro gave a thumbs-up. "I found a bunch of money in that dead guy's house. He won't mind that I robbed him, you see, because he's dead. That money wasn't going anywhere else." He pat the bulge in his side pocket. "There's a lot of weird stuff in that place. It almost _is_ like a haunted house!"

"I sure hope it isn't," Tamama muttered.

"Well, we might as well see what Natsumi Hinata is up to today while we're here," said Keroro. He and Tamama went up to the video screen.

"Natsumi the Exorcist has done it again!" a reporter was saying as they played a video of Natsumi interacting with a couple of kids at a primary school. "Just a few days ago she was merely exterminating demons from the bodies of young teens. Now she has taken her mission as far as to educate children on the secrets that society has been hiding from them! And nobody can do anything because she'll just suck out their soul!" said the reporter. "Why are we breaking the law to tell you these things? I have no idea! It's a new era! Yeah, just TRY to come and arrest me, authorities! Natsumi will protect me! Natsumi will—" The program was cut off.

"Dang, this is a lot worse than I thought," Keroro reflected. "She's going against the Nishizawa contract itself! How stupid can a person be?"

"Pretty stupid," Tamama guessed.

"If kids start learning what's in store for them during demon possession, they'll never let us possess them!" Keroro began to totally freak out. "And we'll all starve if we aren't able to eat human souls!"

"Well, unless you wanted to become _mortal_ ," Tamama laughed.

Keroro smiled. "Very funny, Tamama."

Tamama grinned. _He laughed at one of my jokes! I can't believe this. Is this really happening? Ooh, if I had a heart, it would be thump-thumping all over the place!_

"But seriously. What are we going to do?" Keroro went back to trembling. "The demons will die out for sure. Augh, nothing nearly _this_ bad has happened since the Ancient War! This is so seriously—Oh hey, look, they have hats on sale." He walked over to the display window of one of the stores.

Tamama sweatdropped, but followed him anyway. "Mr. Keroro, you're so silly."

* * *

"Hey, where'd all the camera people go?" Natsumi stood up momentarily from her lesson to the group of kids circled around her.

"They were all arrested," Giroro said. He lifted down a child who he had been letting climb on his shoulders and play with his horns. For some reason all the kids here all wanted to touch his horns, but he told them they had to take turns. "I've been saying this for the past five minutes. You're breaking the Nishizawa contract. They won't allow that kind of stuff on TV."

"They'll allow douche bag commercials on TV," she retorted. "Aren't those worse?"

Giroro opened his mouth, about to challenge her, but then he closed it.

"Natsumi, you still can't just be _telling_ people these things," he tried to explain to her. "They—They're just children. Maybe they're too young to understand."

"Of course they can understand, Giroro!" she said. "Demons will take over your body and kill you, end of story. It's not that complicated."

"Yes, but—"

"They _need_ to be prepared for what awaits them," the argued. "You guys were prepared. And you have the advantage of age. And cool powers. These guys—" She gestured to all the young kids playing with glue bottles and braiding each other's hair, sometimes at the same time. "—they have nothing."

Giroro huffed and crossed his arms. Unfortunately, there was another good point that Natsumi made. He didn't like to admit it, but he had to. He just wished that, if even for a tiny bit, Natsumi could stop focusing so much time and energy on this unrealistic mission and just enjoy their relationship together. It wasn't like she'd ever be able to eliminate every single demon, anyway. He kept telling himself this. And it wasn't like this movement of hers was going to last very long, either. People were going to cover it up sooner or later, and then everyone would forget about it in about a month.

He had no perspective on just how serious things had become in the outside world.

Seeing his expression, Natsumi leaned up and stroked his cheek. "I know you're worried, Giroro."

"Mr. Giro, can you lift me up?" a little girl asked him.

"No, not right now!" he said to her.

"But—But I haven't had a turn on your shoulders yet!"

"Natsumi, go on," he urged her.

She sighed. "I'm worried too. After I'm done talking with these kids, we're going to look for my brother."

Giroro's shoulders slumped. "So you can let the Demon King flirt with you some more?"

She took her hand off of him. "Giroro, there are more important things to worry about right now than your weird fixation with this love triangle you've made up!"

"He was _flirting_ with you, Natsumi! You guys clearly had a fling together!"

"A fling? A _fling_? How is that even possible, Giroro? I've never met him before this week! And anyway, if he's resurrected once every thousand years, how could I have possibly met him before you?"

Giroro became quiet. She was absolutely right! Now this was a point he could agree with.

"Miss Natchi, what's a fling?" one of the children asked her.

"Oh geez." Natsumi put her hand to her forehead. "Let's get back to talking about demons, shall we?"

* * *

After Keroro and Tamama had gotten all their necessary items, they headed back to house, a couple of bags flung over Keroro's shoulders. Truth be told, they hadn't gotten _everything_ they needed. Half the money Keroro had was out of date, so between new cloaks and a cool new hat, he went with a cool new hat for himself. They would just have to live with the bleach-stained cloaks they had now.

"Why would you even put bleach on a black cloak, anyway…" Keroro grumbled to himself. "What a stupid thing to do! No, you know what, I think I know who did it. It was him. Yeah, it had to be him."

"Had to be who?" Tamama asked sweetly.

"We've been walking on eggshells this whole trip!" said Keroro. "But he was quiet. Oh, he was good. He made us all forget that he was even there, living in that poor kid Fuyuki." He smacked his fist into his palm. "And you know what, I bet he was even the one who put the skeleton in that room, the jerk! He went into the house first, after all. What an awful prank to pull!"

"Um… I'm confused?" Tamama told him, although it was more of a question than a comment.

"Electrocuting me is one thing, but ruining my favorite hat as of yesterday is just going too far!" He wiped some tears from his face. "Tamama, when we get back to that house, I'm going to chew out Kululu like he's never been chewed out before! Maybe I'll ruin HIS favorite hat, too!"

Tamama fell silent. He stopped floating alongside Keroro.

"Um… Tamama?"

He watched in horror as Tamama transformed—pupils shrunk, his face getting dark, his fists balling angrily.

"KULULU?! THE DEMON KING? HE WAS HERE ALL ALONG IN THE GROUP AND NO ONE EVER TOLD ME?!" he shrieked.

"Um…" Keroro pointed timidly at him. "…don't tell me you want to kill him too?"

"HE'S BEEN IN FUKKI ALL THIS TIME! MOMOCCHI NEVER SAID A SINGLE WORD! GAAAH, I BET SHE'S IN CAHOOTS WITH HIM!"

"Uh…." Keroro didn't know what else to say.

Tamama broke down into sobs. "Everyone lied to me! All of my friends! I gave them my trust and they abused it."

"There, there," Keroro tried to comfort. He was still a bit frightened of Tamama's transformation, but at least he wasn't talking in caps lock any longer.

"No! Not even you can make this better, Mr. Keroro!" Tamama brushed him off.

"Oh, come on," he told him. "Everyone hates Kululu here. We're not denying that. You're just part of the group now!"

"You don't understand!" Tamama shouted. "He took my in, he talked big and made me think I was special…. He promised me fame, fortune, sweets. He took me under his wing and made me think I could be the next Demon King! He made me think I had a chance up there with the big guys!" Tears were streaming from his eyes. "He gave me responsibilities only to ditch out on them himself. And then, when all was said and done during the war, you know what he did? He ruined me! Took everything from me. My family, my house, my money…. I was just a demon pup! I had to live on my own and the worst part was that nobody ever believes a word I say anymore! THIS. FURY. IS. PERSONAL!"

Keroro was speechless. He had heard the stories of Kululu doing awful things to people, but this? This was just too much!

"I—I believe you," he said. "It's not actually that surprising that he would do something like that."

"He's here!" Tamama said. "He's in my grasp! But—But wait. What can I do?" He felt around himself. "I'm just projecting myself into this realm! I can't do anything! No, wait." His expression snapped into a menacing grin. "I can talk. I can expose all his dirty little secrets! MUA HA HA HA HA!"

"Um… okay," said Keroro. He started walking again.

"But… wait." Tamama seemed to remember something. "Momocchi lied to me! And… you lied… to me too?"

"Me?" Keroro looked around. "I didn't lie. Dude, I didn't want to talk about him. None of us do. Not my fault for knowing you have a personal vendetta against the Demon King and want revenge."

"I can't believe this!" Tamama wailed. He had a sudden change of mind. "I can't go back there right now! He'll laugh at me when he sees me! He'll laugh and make me feel insecure about myself and he'll pretend like I'm lyyyying!"

"Yeah, probably," said Keroro. Tamama ran off into a nearby cave. "Wait, Tamama!" Keroro ran in after him.

The cave was dark and damp. He couldn't tell where Tamama was, since he was translucent. Keroro tried to listen to the sound of him weeping. Eventually he picked up some breathing and walked toward it.

"Look, Tamama, if you stay in here forever, you'll never expose the Demon King's dirty secrets like you said you would," Keroro told him. He reached forward, trying to find the edge of the cave to grab hold of, but instead his hand met with something scaly and cold. "Um… Tamama?" He paled. "That's… not you, is it?"

The yellow eyes of a giant reptile opened and locked with his own.

"Eep!" A chill ran through him. He immediately snapped his hand off of the giant reptile's snout. "Tamama, I'm going to leave the cave now!" he called. No response. Well, there was a response from the reptile after Keroro had yelled this. It growled at him and snorted out a huff of air onto his face. "Oh dear." Keroro slowly peered upward at the creature.

When it charged at him, he let out a scream.

* * *

Tamama was still busy crying his eyes out when he heard Keroro's scream.

"What's that?" he said. "Mr. Keroro's in trouble?" He dashed into the cave. The giant reptile had Keroro cornered, and looked as if it was ready to gobble him up in one bite.

"Ah! This is all my fault!" he started crying. "If I hadn't been making such a fuss, Mr. Keroro wouldn't have gone into the monster's den and gotten eaten!"

"Actually, I'm still alive right now!" Keroro reminded him. "Now can you please do something to help me?"

"I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO! I'M NOT EVEN IN THIS PLANE!" Tamama reminded him.

He wished dearly that there was something that he could do. Some way to get on the same plane as Keroro.

Then he realized it.

It would be reckless, and irreversible, but he had to do it in order to save Keroro.

* * *

"TAKE THAT, YOU NASTY LIZARD!"

Tamama soared in and delivered a kick directly into the giant lizard's eyeball. It let out a scream of pain and, in its moment of distraction, Tamama grabbed Keroro's hand and ran.

"Later, sucker!" Over his shoulder, he blew a raspberry at the lizard.

When they were a safe enough distance away from the monster, Tamama let go of Keroro's hand and they stood there a second, both catching their breath.

After a big gulp of air, Keroro stood up straight and looked Tamama in the eye. "Tamama… you're…? No… you couldn't really have…"

He looked the young demon over. He had! There he was, standing before him, flesh and blood. Keroro wanted to bash his head against a wall. Why? Why would Tamama do that?

"Um…." Tamama awkwardly avoided eye contact.

Keroro reached out his hand, as if to caress Tamama's cheek in forgiveness or gratitude for saving him. Tamama's face turned pink and he leaned forward to accept the contact. But instead Keroro's hand moved to the top of Tamama's head, where he started feeling his stubby little horns.

"Look at these things!" he laughed. "They're so tiny and cute!"

Tamama swatted his hand away. "HEY! DON'T MAKE FUN OF MY HORNS, ALL RIGHT?" Then he paused and grinned. "Wait, you think they're cute? Aw!~" He threw his arms around Keroro in a hug. It had been so long since he could do that.

Keroro felt weird, but he just sighed. "So you're a mortal now, too, huh…" he said. He couldn't believe Tamama's thoughtless decision. Who would be next to go?

* * *

 **Ack I don't mean to put in any SabuFuyu scenes but they happen anyway? Why? Somebody send help SOS**

 **-Scissors**


	15. Up In Flames

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

 **Another chapter of wacky road-trip shenanigans I'd like to think.**

* * *

"And I've just wanted to talk to you for so long, and I just, oh my god, have I mentioned what my favorite food was yet? My favorite color? Do you have a type of music you like?" Tamama hadn't quit talking for three hours as he and Keroro had walked home. And Keroro was sick of it.

 _My ears feel like they're bleeding. I haven't even been able to say a single word between his sentences!_ Keroro thought to himself, covering his ears.

" _Glad I'm not the one in charge of the body at this moment._ " Saburo seemed to be enjoying the amusement. Keroro was so glad that Saburo and Kululu hadn't been paired up together. If they had been, the jerky antics between the two of them might have exploded the world. " _Still, it's nice to finally be able to see him. He's cute, but not exactly my type. I go for darker blue hair over red._ "

Keroro just covered his ears. Why did every single host he had to get have to be majorly gay? It was as if the world was trying to tell him something, but he hadn't quite caught on to what exactly that was yet.

" _Still, it's nice you've got such an enthusiastic little boyfriend,~_ " Saburo teased.

"We literally just met, like, a day ago. Although I've learned more than I've ever wanted to know in these past three hours, that doesn't mean he's my boyfriend," Keroro pointed out.

" _Are you going to use that 'he's not my boyfriend!' line on me?_ " Saburo asked. " _Because you know what they say about that line -_ "

"I've seen more cartoons than you, dude. I know what they say about that line." Keroro grinded his teeth together.

" _What? Really?_ " Saburo was surprised. _"Which cartoons are your favorite?_ "

"Well..." Keroro began to talk about his favorite cartoons with Saburo, tuning Tamama out. The two just became entrapped in their own little world that Tamama remained oblivious of.

Eventually, when they approached the house they were currently residing in, Keroro did try to talk to Tamama. He knew that Tamama would continue bothering him if he didn't quickly distract him. "I bet you can finally chew Kululu out for whatever he did, now that you're mortal."

Tamama gasped. "You're right! I'm going to punch the Demon King!" he declared proudly.

Keroro didn't know if that was such a good idea, but at least he had peace and quiet for a little bit.

* * *

The first thing Tamama did when he entered the house was run up to Fuyuki.

"Huh...? Who are you?" Fuyuki asked.

" _Oh no..._ " Kululu cursed in his head. Tamama's eyes became beady and he quickly punched Fuyuki in the solar plexus with all his might.

"AND THAT'S FOR TAKING ADVANTAGE OF ME WHEN I WAS JUST A YOUNGIN'!" Tamama yelled like he was an old man. He kicked Fuyuki while he was still on the ground. "Where's my money? Where's my fame? You promised me everything in return for my services!"

"Umm... what's going on?" Dororo asked, a nice little apron around him. He was busy cleaning up their make-shift house and wasn't quite sure why Tamama wasn't floating anymore.

"I almost died but, Tamama saved me, and now he's mortal, but he really doesn't like Kululu, and please, don't distract him from his anger because it's the only time I'm catching a break," Keroro begged.

"Tamama turned mortal? I am sorry that he, too, had to give up his immortality... But I am glad you aren't dead." Dororo smiled. "Tamama. It is an honor to meet the new you - " He was ignored as Tamama just kept kicking.

Dororo cried.

"I wonder what Tamama even did for Kululu that he didn't get paid for..." Keroro wondered.

Fuyuki, if he wasn't crying in pain, would have wondered, too. The pain eventually led him to his fantasy-mode once again.

"Ohhh, Tamama... You're so hot and sexy just like Fuyuki's sister. Let's bang. I'll give you money," Kululu said in Fuyuki's fantasy. "After all, I totally go for red or pink hair."

"I am just an innocent youth. I do not know that this is exploitative and bad, so okay, as long as you pay me!" Tamama responded, giggling. A censor bar hovered over the two of them, and Fuyuki screamed in disgust.

"YEAH! There's the screams I wanted to hear! TAMAMA IMPACT, YOU JERK!" Tamama tried to conjure up an energy blast with his horns, but soon realized he had none of his demon powers. He stopped kicking for a moment to childishly cry. "My... Tamama Impacts are gone... Nooooooooo!" he wailed.

" _This is bad..._ " Fuyuki slowly realized that during the beating, Kululu had been talking to himself in Fuyuki's head. " _Crap, crap, crap... Well, at least he's mortal. So after this lifetime, I'll be rid of him._ "

"Please stop kicking me..." Fuyuki begged Tamama. "I'm not Kululu at the moment, I'm Fuyuki."

"Well then, change! Be Kululu!" Tamama ordered. Fuyuki tried to get up and relinquish control to Kululu.

Kululu looked awkward as soon as he had the body. "He won't come out," he told him, impersonating Fuyuki.

"Well then, I better start trashing some of the books written by him." Tamama decided.

"No, wait! He's here!" Kululu cared too much about his stuff. "Um... hello, Tamama... You're looking nice. I'm glad you've grown up into such a fine young gentleman." He tried to smooth things over.

Tamama tapped his foot impatiently. "You screwed me over."

"What? No! I couldn't have! You dropped off the face of the planet the last time I saw you." He lied to him, faking concern. "Did you get your money?" Tamama shook his head. "Someone in management, I'm thinking Garuru, must have forgotten. I'm so sorry. I really thought you were dead, though!" Kululu put his hand sympathetically on Tamama's shoulder.

Tamama swatted it off. "You're lying! You knew I was with Momoka; you saw me! And you actively avoided me! Because you didn't want me to expose your nasty little lies! Well, I'm here now. And I see two demons in the room ready to hear all about your stunts!" Tamama gave a sinister grin and took a deep breath, about to shout out all Kululu had done wrong.

Desperately, Kululu did the only thing he could do in that situation to shut Tamama up. He leaned down and kissed him on the mouth, not as sweetly as he had kissed Natsumi, but a kiss nonetheless.

Fuyuki felt tears coming down his cheek as he pulled away. _My second kiss!_ he cried. He... He had kind of wanted to give that kiss to someone he actually liked! Not let Kululu kiss another person. Fuyuki wiped away his tears of disgust.

Tamama just looked at him in shock, like if you poked at him he would dissolve, something that Kululu did try to do.

"My... My first kiss!" he sobbed. "I was saving that for Keroro!"

"Umm... huh?" Keroro scratched his head.

"Oh, Mr. Keroro! Please comfort me!" Tamama threw himself into Keroro's arms. "Preferably with your lips!"

"...What," Keroro asked again.

"Ooopsie! I mean, preferably with your nips... No, I mean... hips?" Tamama tried desperately to think of something that didn't sound like he really wanted Keroro's body. "Just ignore that and hug me."

Keroro seemed to be the one in shock now. He probably hadn't heard anything that entire day right. He looked at Fuyuki desperately like "please help me," but Fuyuki was gone, along with Kululu.

Kululu had fled with the time he had bought.

* * *

Kululu remained in another room. It was likely his kiss with Tamama had shocked him for at least a few hours, so that he'd be thinking of that instead bringing up his nasty lies again.

He also seemed pretty distracted with Keroro, which was good. _Darn it... If he's here, this is really bad. I'll have to constantly stick him on Keroro, because that seems to be the only thing to distract him. Thank god for that idiot._ He could easily tell that Tamama seemed to have feelings for Keroro, for reasons he would probably never understand. But this would work out in his favor if he used Keroro to his advantage.

Tamama would never be able to bother him if he was distracted.

"So... you had an affair with Tamama, too?" Fuyuki didn't know if he wanted to ask.

 _Huh?_ Kululu thought. _Was that kiss and our familiarity interpreted as such? Ku, ku, ku. Gross. This was something I didn't expect at all. But I suppose it's better for me than if they discover the truth._ "Don't tell your sister about it," he begged.

Fuyuki made a grossed-out face.

"So... Tamama, Natsumi, Momoka, Saburo, your wife, probably all the people who you encountered during your other hosting trips... Is there anyone you haven't flirted with?" Fuyuki was disgusted at the discovery of probably another of Kululu's affairs.

Kululu thought for a moment. "Probably your mom," he guessed.

Fuyuki was grossed out. Why did he do these things? "I can't believe you're such a flirt!"

* * *

" _I can't believe you're such a flirt!_ " his old host, Kururuko Tsukishima, had said the same thing to him, over a thousand years ago. Unlike Fuyuki, she didn't usually try for dominance against him. She had long since given up, knowing she was going to die in the fight against him. All she wanted to do with her last two years was live her dream of being an idol, and since she did most of the things he asked of her, he was willing enough to let her.

Kululu leaned back in a chair at a club. Various girls of all shapes and sizes surrounded him. "Ku ku ku. You've been with me two years, Kururuko. You shouldn't be surprised at this rate," he said.

" _I suppose,_ " she agreed.

"Oh, Mr. Demon King. Tell us another story about one of your inventions!" A girl by his side giggled and held onto his arm.

There was ten of them with him tonight. That was a good number. And they were of all sorts. Some of them seemed genuinely interested that the Demon King was paying attention to them, and others seemed to be accompanying him just out of fear. Either way, at least he'd have the time to examine them.

"Ku. Sure. Do you want any drinks? I can pay with my host's money," Kululu offered. Everybody wanted free drinks.

As a waiter handed Kululu eleven drinks, he handed the various girls what they had ordered, having at least a moment to hold their hands and look into their eyes.

 _Just as I suspected. Ugly and boring,_ he easily decided. After looking for a few minutes, he was satisfied.

"So you were going to tell us about one of your latest inventions?" the one to his left giggled.

"Ku, ku, ku. Yeah. It's a sprinkler system filled with soda." He clicked a button and drinks rained down on everyone. "Ku, ku, ku! You're all boring. You don't deserve to hear about me and my latest triumphs. You're all dumped! Ku, ku, ku!" He ran out of the club, laughing and sticking them with the bill as they cried.

" _I really don't understand. You're such a flirt, but nothing comes of it. It's like you just want to examine every girl in this city. Are you trying to get blood samples or something on them for some creepy invention?_ " Kururuko asked. " _If so, why not the boys?_ "

Kululu didn't answer. Kururuko was pretty bright. She had seen straight through him. He did want to examine every girl in the city. But not quite for the reason she thought.

He shrugged. He hadn't found who he was looking for this time, but tomorrow was always another day.

* * *

Kululu frowned at the memory of his old host, Kururuko. Oh, how that girl had screwed him over good. She hadn't fought with him at all and had willingly let him win the demon fight, despite the fact that she had been trained to try to control him.

Unfortunately, what he didn't know, and what the people of the town had kept from him, was the fact that Kururuko was dying from an illness, and only had about three years to live, anyway. He hadn't been able to leave his house after he had the body to himself, and had died slowly in his library.

He admired that she had tried to con him, but he still felt gypped.

"We need to set up some boundaries, Kululu," Fuyuki decided, snapping him out of his memories. "You can't just keep kissing everyone you want! After all, I'm not allowed to kiss anyone, right?"

Kululu sighed. Even though Kururuko had gypped him, he would take her compliant nature over Fuyuki's any day. "So... no more flirting with Tamama on this trip, okay? Just no more flirting with Tamama!"

"Fine by me," Kululu agreed. He didn't want to flirt with Tamama, anyway. _At least now I have an excuse not to flirt with him, since apparently people thought we were a thing._

Fuyuki sighed. "That's a relief."

Still, Kululu was worried. He didn't want to flirt with Tamama, but he still didn't want Tamama spreading rumors that he really shouldn't be spreading.

 _I suppose I really am going to have to get him to spend as much of his brainpower as possible on Keroro as he can,_ Kululu decided.

He really hoped this wouldn't create happiness.

* * *

He sneaked into the room when Tamama wasn't paying attention and was talking to Keroro alone on the sofa. Grabbing some candlesticks that he had laying around, Kululu lit them romantically, while putting on some loud romantic music.

 _I'm sorry._ He apologized to all his stuff. It wasn't meant to be used in such a disgraceful way.

"Do you hear that?" Tamama asked, sauntering up to Keroro and snuggling up to him on the couch. Keroro looked awkward. "It feels like it's playing just for us, huh?"

"Not really," Keroro answered.

"This must be our song! Our music!" Tamama decided.

Keroro frowned. He looked over at Fuyuki, who was laughing and clearly Kululu.

 _So it was you who did this!_ he realized. Kululu was trying to pawn Tamama off on him! But the reasons Tamama was so attached to him still were a mystery to Keroro.

At the moment, he just wanted a break from him. _You won't get away with this,_ Keroro thought to himself.

And so the most dramatic hot potato match in history started between Keroro and Kululu, both of them trying to pawn Tamama off on the other.

Kululu would leave sweets and romantic love letters in Keroro's name in front of Tamama, and Keroro would desperately try to remind Tamama Kululu was in the house. Tamama switched between targets like a light switch, not able to decide who he'd devote his time and energy to.

But both demons knew it shouldn't be them.

"Umm... guys? I'd love to spend some time with Tamama and get to know him," Dororo reminded them, hanging out in the middle of their little war. As usual, nobody heard him. And he cried.

* * *

Natsumi put some essential supplies in a travel backpack. Things were going well in town, but she still needed to eliminate the Demon King and save Fuyuki's life.

"You're going after him?" Giroro asked, leaning on the wall.

"Yeah. I've got to chase after my dumb, misguided brother." Natsumi gave a small smile, "You're coming, right?"

"Yeah. I won't leave you alone with Kululu." Giroro crossed his arms.

She rolled her eyes. "You still think there's something going on between us? Seriously?"

"Well... I mean, maybe you two didn't use to date or anything, but he's clearly fallen for your charms!" Giroro countered. "Which is easy enough, but... what if he tries to kiss you again? I have to make sure you're safe!"

"I think he's just trolling me, honestly. He seems like the type of guy to do that. From the rumors I've heard of him, that sounds like the sort of thing he'd do," she responded.

Giroro didn't believe it. To him, it was much more plausible that Kululu had fallen in love with Natsumi, just like he had.

* * *

"I'm leaving to go after Fuyuki," Natsumi told Momoka, one of her biggest allies and supporters in town. She was glad that after all the time she had been missing, Momoka still seemed willing to remain her friend. "I want you to be in charge of the town and keep things going while I'm gone," she told the girl.

Momoka nodded, taking a sip of tea. She kept her body calm and proper, despite her insides shaking at this information. "Do you really need to go after Fuyuki, though? Won't he come back on his own if he really wants to? Kululu probably didn't kidnap him and..."

"He doesn't realize what he's getting into. I know that seeing someone die, even a demon, might be tough on him, because he's a sweet kid, but it's better than him dying," Natsumi tried to reason. "He's being manipulated by Kululu and I need to help him."

Momoka took another sip of tea, trying to think of a better way to convince Natsumi not to leave. Sure, it might be better for the world if Natsumi left, because then everybody wouldn't have someone to be inspired by, but Momoka didn't want to put Fuyuki in danger.

"You're my biggest political ally. You know how these things work, Momoka, so while I'm gone, you need to be there to inspire the people." She smiled and gave her hand a squeeze. "You may be a Nishizawa, and your ancestors may have made a mistake with that contract, but you are not responsible for those mistakes. You can make things right."

Momoka did not frown, but she internally did. _Mistake? That contract was amazing! My ancestors did right! And I'm not a political ally here, I'm a prisoner. We're just playing peaceful and pretend! Are you that ignorant about the war that's raging throughout the rest of the world?_ She wanted to beat Natsumi up, but she didn't.

"Bye, Momoka. I'll bring Fuyuki back soon, safe and sound. I know you'd love that." She winked at the girl before finishing her rich food and leaving.

There was barely any food left for Momoka.

"You know, this is for the best," Paul reminded her. "The world really does not need her to be a negative role model. And even with her powers against demons, one person cannot make a difference against an entire race."

Momoka nodded. "Unless you're an angel, of course. But that species is long dead."

"You're not saying you suspect Natsumi of having angel genes, right?" Paul asked.

Momoka shook her head. "I just wish the angels were here today... I mean, I know they were bloodthirsty and evil, but at least they were a common enemy. We weren't fighting _ourselves_ ten thousand years ago."

"Ten thousand years is a long time for peace, mistress," Paul told her. "It was bound to happen that some humans would get sick of demons eventually. Without an enemy to unite us, we fall into pieces. Humans and demons, although very different, both have the same psychology. Likewise, both our species need something to hate."

"I just wish that thing to hate wasn't ourselves." Momoka pulled at her hair.

"What are you going to do, Mistress?" he asked her. "While Natsumi's away, I mean. We both know that this revolution won't last long, and the demons are bound to crush it. From the history lessons I tutored you, it is very likely they'll get angry and tear apart the contract your ancestors made and treat us exactly as they did before the war."

"Like livestock. And that's no good for humanity," Momoka recalled. "While Natsumi's away, I suppose I should try to heal the damage she's made, then. Secretly, of course. In the shadows of society, away from the cameras."

"How are you going to repair the damage?" Paul asked.

"First, I'll evacuate the demons in town. That way, we can keep casualties to a minimum. Then I'll try to re-establish a new Nishizawa contract next time I see Kululu, so that the demons can't take revenge on humanity. It might mean he'll get to come back more frequently, but that's something I'm willing to give so that humanity can stay alive," Momoka decided, using her most mature judgement. "I just wish there was something that could make the humans see the demons more positively again, because fighting isn't going to bring us anything. I really do wish those angels were back only so we could kill them again."

"Would you like the Nishizawa Corporation to train some soldiers into appearing as angels to fight humanity and demons?" Paul asked.

"That would be a suicide mission, Paul," Momoka gasped. "They would die."

"I know. And it would take quite a bit of training, too, but it's the only solution that might get the two sides to like each other again," he explained. "But I cannot make the command. Only you have control of the company. But I do not want their deaths to be on your hands, Mistress, so if you refuse, that's all right..."

Momoka thought for a moment. She knew the war between humanity and demons would especially be bad for Fuyuki, since he had the Demon King in his body. But ordering people to die for her... was just as bad as actually killing people in cold blood. "Let the training begin," she finally decided. She couldn't let Fuyuki be a target for violence.

She would protect him no matter what.

* * *

It took days for Giroro and Natsumi to finally track down where the Demon King was residing. They were only able to track him because of a trail of giant hats.

"Keroro... has a thing for staying fashionable. He's probably spending all their money," Giroro told her, snickering a bit. "He works as a designer back on the demon realm. Naturally, I think his designs are hideous..."

He realized Natsumi wasn't paying much attention to his life back on the demon realm. Instead, she pulled him into a bush to hide as she pointed to a giant concrete structure, hidden away by overgrowth.

"Is this like a lakeside cabin?" Natsumi asked. "Geez, that Demon King gets to live in luxury, even on the run!"

"A lakeside cabin? How romantic... I mean, if we had something like this, Natsumi... wouldn't it be great to just run away from the world's troubles and live in a house just like this one?" Giroro swooned. Living with Natsumi in a house would be amazing. It would be like a honeymoon every day.

"That actually sounds really irresponsible. I mean, we have jobs to do for humanity!" Natsumi reminded him. "Jobs that we _can't_ run away from."

Giroro frowned. Why'd she always have to shoot down his romantic ideas?

* * *

Meanwhile, in the house, Dororo continued cleaning the windows and such, singing "whistle while you work" as he did so.

Keroro and Kululu's hot potato match had boiled down to literally just tossing Tamama between them.

"He's yours! I think he wants to spend time with you!" Kululu hissed.

"No. My good friend Tamama has something I think he'd very much like to say to you. Don't you, buddy?" Keroro tried to keep Tamama's attention focused on Kululu.

Tamama would just go through emotions, completely forgetting that they were fighting over who wouldn't have to deal with him. "Ohhh, Keroro!" he would say when he was next to Keroro. "Urgh, Kululu!" he would yell when he was next to Kululu.

This had been going on for hours.

Fuyuki and Saburo were tired of it, but there was nothing they could do.

They prayed for a distraction.

* * *

Giroro noticed the window of the house. Unable to see much out of his left eye due to a scar, he could only notice a few things - the Demon King inside, tossing around a strange red-haired demon who he didn't recognize.

Giroro felt rage boiling in him at the sight of the Demon King. He would not get a chance to kiss Natsumi again!

He took out the pin of a grenade and, with all his might, threw it through an open window. He grabbed Natsumi's arm. "Let's go!" he yelled.

Natsumi stood in shock as Giroro dragged her away. The explosion sounded.

"I did it! I killed the Demon King!" Giroro was proud. Instead of Natsumi praising him, however, she slapped him.

"MY BROTHER WAS IN THERE, YOU IDIOT!" she yelled, punching him again.

Giroro's jaw opened in shock. He had honestly forgotten that Kululu and Fuyuki remained in the same body. "Oh... Oh my god, Natsumi, I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to... It's just that I've only ever been taught to take the enemy down and kill them, never take them alive..." Giroro tried not to cry as Natsumi just looked at him horrified. He broke down and started crying anyway. "I... I can't believe I did that. I'm awful... And Keroro and Dororo were probably in there, too..."

"They could have gotten out," Natsumi whispered, having not seen Giroro cry before. She was still incredibly angry at him, but she supposed there were a few things that she'd never be able to understand and relate to about her boyfriend. One of those things just happened to be the fact that he had been through many wars in his time and didn't know how to cope with missions that weren't war-like. She tried to give him a comforting hug as he cried. "The Demon King's smarter than you give him credit for. A grenade couldn't have hurt him."

He just continued crying. "I'm so, so, sorry..." he apologized. She soothingly combed her fingers through his hair. "It's all right. Let's go look for wherever he's hiding when the fire goes out... You better give me the bag of grenades for safe keeping, though."

Giroro complied and handed her the bag of grenades. Taking out Kululu wasn't the same as taking out some angel during a war. The body that Kululu was inhabiting couldn't be hurt. He needed to remember this.

 _Maybe the problem isn't her in this relationship... maybe it's me. All I've been since we've gotten to town is jealous. Is... Is it because I'm so desperate to find something I can put my whole heart into fighting and killing?_ Maybe he wanted to direct that rage at Kululu, or even Saburo, so desperately.

He hadn't ever thought about how he was a cold-blooded killer before. It hadn't ever been something wrong to him before Natsumi. But she seemed to love humanity and her people so much, the way she fought for others. Yet Giroro fought for the thrill; he fought like every day was a war.

 _Natsumi makes battles meaningful. That's what's so amazing about her._ He needed to stop making everything seem like a war. It wasn't necessary.

* * *

As soon as the grenade came in through the window, everybody freaked out. Only one person stayed calm in the scenario and quickly realized what they had to do.

"Follow me!" Fuyuki ordered. He had gotten to know this house well enough, and he had figured out which places might be able to last through a grenade. He ran to one of the heavily secured rooms - the one with the crib in it - grabbed the keys that Kululu had put in his pocket, and opened it up.

Everybody huddled in as the grenade went off.

" _Hey, hey, hey! They aren't allowed in this room!_ " Kululu yelled in Fuyuki's head. Fuyuki huddled in a ball, trying to remain safe. He could feel the house still shaking, and the rest of the rooms seemed to be starting to fall apart, the ceiling crumpling in on itself.

The temperature was increasing, too. It was likely things were starting to light on fire.

"Get out of this room!" Kululu finally yelled, taking control of the body.

Saburo was the one to speak up. "We'd like to, but the house is falling apart. We would have died if we hadn't come in here. It was a good thing Fuyuki had such quick thinking!"

"Waaaaaah, are we gonna die? Are the flames going to get to this room?" Tamama cried. He tried to grab something to feel more comfortable, and grabbed a baby doll whose eyes had long since fallen out, and with the fabric peeling. It looked like a zombie baby. "Eep!" He threw it onto the ground.

"What should we do? If we stay here any longer, we'll go up in flames along with this house!" Dororo spoke. The grenade's explosion had ended, but there was still likely a fire roaring outside.

"We have to leave," Keroro decided. "Find the exit to the house and get out, before we die."

"No," Kululu and Tamama said together.

"What, why not?" Dororo asked. They didn't have time to argue.

"I don't want to go anywhere with him!" Tamama pointed.

"I'm not leaving. That's final," Kululu insisted.

" _Kululu, I know this is your house, but you can build a new one later. We'll both die if you don't leave!_ " Fuyuki insisted. Kululu crossed his arms and sat down in the middle of the floor.

Dororo and Keroro looked at each other, shocked by Kululu's childishness.

Keroro grabbed Tamama first. "You're going. Do you want to die here?"

"Well... Noooo..." Tamama admitted.

"We're leaving, then." Keroro pointed out. He kicked the door down and pulled Tamama around the flames with him, hoping to avoid them.

Dororo shrugged and picked up Kululu. He was a trained assassin, so he knew his way through obstacles. A house on fire would be nothing, even if he did have someone on his shoulders.

Kululu beat Dororo's back, but with Fuyuki's strength, it did nothing. "Noooo! Let me down!" Dororo did not.

 _Who knew I would save the Demon King's life someday?_ he thought to himself as he left the room.

The last thing Kululu and Fuyuki both saw of the room was the thing that resembled a crib being swallowed up in flames.

Only Fuyuki could feel Kululu's tear going down his cheek.

* * *

"This is bad, Dororo..." Keroro coughed. "The exit's blocked!"

"What?"

"Some concrete fell in front of the door... We can't leave." The smoke was getting to him.

"There's... a secret tunnel in one of these rooms... that should let us escape..." Kululu finally spoke up, ready to advise them on how to live.

"Where?" Dororo asked. Kululu pointed toward one of the rooms that he had locked, one of the rooms Fuyuki hadn't been in yet.

Quickly, Dororo rushed to it, and Kululu inputted a code to enter the room. "Move the bed to the left and there should be a trap door. There's a secret tunnel underground that lasts for a few miles. It's filled with booby traps, though, so be careful."

"I'm familiar with traps. I can avoid them," Dororo assured.

The group entered what resembled an old bedroom.

"Ah! This is the feather room!" Tamama recalled.

"No time to snoop, Tamama. We have to escape!" Keroro reminded, shutting the door quickly behind them. He hoped that the door wouldn't burn down or melt.

"But... there's always time to snoop..." Tamama's eyes drooped.

Dororo let Fuyuki down and tried to push the bed aside.

The ceiling started falling down at certain parts of the room.

"Hmmm..." Kululu casually pushed Tamama, hoping for him to get hit by the falling debris. Tamama was pushed into the wardrobe instead.

"Ohh! Look at what I found!" He came out of the wardrobe with a very ancient, but still intact, wedding dress. "Do you think it would look pretty on me, Mr. Keroro?"

"Hey... isn't that fabric - " Keroro was cut off by Dororo's victorious cry.

"The trap door is ready!" Dororo slipped into the underground tunnel, along with Kululu. Keroro soon followed and Tamama threw the wedding dress into the soon-approaching flames.

* * *

The tunnel lasted for miles, but thanks to Kululu's advice and Dororo's wisdom when it came to booby traps, nobody was hurt.

Kululu was rather quiet most of the time while walking. Fuyuki assumed he was mourning his stuff.

 _I wonder if he and his wife lived there..._ Fuyuki had seen the wedding dress Tamama had found. It only seemed logical that it was Kululu's and his wife's house at some point.

No wonder Kululu was so sad. His last link to his wife had probably charred to a crisp.

"How did you know about the trap door, Kululu?" Keroro finally asked.

"Found it when I was exploring," Kululu answered simply. "Well, when Fuyuki was exploring."

"Thank you, Keroro, for convincing me to leave that burning building. You saved my life!" Tamama hugged Keroro and giggled, "Again."

"When did I save your life before?" Keroro wondered.

Tamama smiled. "Secret."

The group eventually found themselves pushing a rock aside to exit the tunnel. When they came out, they were in a deep forest.

"Where are we?" Keroro asked.

"I know where we are!" Dororo perked up. "I toured this place with my friend once."

Keroro ignored him. "So... where should we go next? Our temporary home is kind of gone, so..."

Dororo thought for a moment. _Koyuki might not react well to three other demons, but I need to tell her about how I'm alive. And we're so close to her temple... But what if everybody's mad at her for being in charge of an angel temple? No... I'll protect her from their wrath. And it's the only safe place I can think of._ "I have a suggestion."

"Let's go back to town," Fuyuki suggested. "Maybe we could dye our hair and then nobody would recognize us! I think I remember the way back!"

Nobody listened to Dororo's suggestion, instead preferring Fuyuki's. So they headed back to town instead of listening to Dororo.

* * *

Surprisingly, the town was awfully quiet when the group approached it. Fuyuki covered his mouth and nose when the smell of rotting corpses greeted his nose.

"Look at that!" Keroro pointed to the town sign, a big boulder that usually greeted the rare traveler into town. Instead of saying "Welcome," though, a girl's body hung by nails. She was a teenager, no older than Natsumi, it looked like. She had blonde hair, tan skin, and wore a sweatervest that was now covered in blood.

Dororo rushed over to see if he could help her down. He turned around to the group and looked sad. "She's dead. They hung her here to show us just how dead she is." He slowly took her down so he could lay her to rest respectfully.

Smoke was coming out of the rest of the town.

Fuyuki covered his mouth. Was what Momoka had said been true? That people were killing teenagers to take out demons? Had H.A.D. used this girl as a public example?

Then... what happened to the rest of the town? Why did it look like all the people were dead, that buildings had burned and crumpled under mass pressure?

"War is terrible," Dororo mourned.

"So... the humans killed themselves?" Fuyuki was terrified.

"Ku, ku, ku. I knew they were dumb." Kululu expressed no remorse. As usual.

They all turned their heads away from the town. They knew they would never return there. The town had paid for its mistakes that it had done to youths. Now everybody was dead.

And instead of a town, it resembled a battlefield.

* * *

"I have a place we can stay... I need to meet a friend and tell her something I told her was wrong anyway," Dororo suggested, now that it was finally quiet enough for people to listen to him.

"Where?" Keroro asked.

"A place... a shrine..." He was non-specific. "I beg of you, though... my friend has very misguided morals. It is not her fault; she was raised to believe different things than we know, even though her knowledge is... well... wrong. So please, do not judge her. And be nice to her. She used to hate demons, but she's open to kindness," Dororo begged.

Saburo decided to go for it. "I like meeting new people. Especially human people."

No harm in visiting the girl, after all, especially if she had a safe space to stay.

* * *

The group followed Dororo's lead and finally made it to the shrine that Dororo's friend resided in.

"A-angel Shrine?" Keroro stuttered out, reading the sign.

Dororo nodded. "My friend believes that, during the war, there was a lot of nonfactual propaganda spewed and that the angels were not as evil as everybody believes... that they were on the right side. Please... just don't mention it. It's best not to argue about these sort of things."

"But... But we were all there! We know the angels are evil! Why won't she believe people who were actually there?" Keroro was horrified at this knowledge that someone actually sided with the angels.

"Well... you know there's always those weird cults in the world who worship death or something completely offensive. She's probably from one of those," Saburo reminded him.

Kululu just seemed dazed and shocked as he looked at the temple, his mouth in the shape of an "O". Fuyuki had never felt him so shocked.

 _He must be pretty offended,_ Fuyuki realized. _I mean... I remember at festival, even something simple like the newspaper club taking a picture of a giant bird got him on edge. As Demon King, he probably has to take all these threats seriously._

"If there's one thing I hate more than Kululu, it's angels." Tamama clenched his fists. "Urgh... just thinking of their stupid faces and all the horrible things they did. I HATE THEM SO MUCH!" he roared.

"Koyuki! It's me, Dororo! I'm alive!" Dororo called, trying to ignore Tamama's yelling. "We had better go look for her, to ask her permission to stay here."

"I don't know if I can sleep peacefully near someone siding with angels," Keroro admitted. Dororo ignored him.

"Come meet Koyuki. You'll all feel differently after you talk to her," he promised, pulling Keroro and Tamama along.

Kululu did not follow, though.

"Kululu? Aren't you going to look for Dororo's friend?" Fuyuki asked.

"Nah... let's go look around the shrine instead. I need to... examine for threats and what information they have on them." He sounded serious.

Fuyuki nodded. He understood. And he was honored to help Kululu with such a thing.

* * *

The two of them walked up the stairs of the shrine, looking at various artifacts and carvings on the walls. Fuyuki didn't understand the ruin scripts, but Kululu seemed interested in them.

"Umm... tell me if this is offending you, okay, because I know nerding out about a dangerous extinct species is bad, but... what are these carvings? I don't recognize them at all..." Fuyuki pointed to the letters. Kululu traced his fingers over them.

"Nah, it's fine. You've always been a curious one for the unknown. I suppose angels, having not been sighted for ten thousand years, would be the same," Kululu said. "This is Gellish, the angel language."

"They had a language all their own?" Fuyuki asked.

"So did demons," he said. "You've learned some of our language in school, correct?"

"Monese... But Demons can speak both that, and the human language fluently, right?" Fuyuki asked.

"Yep. Both angels and demons could both speak the universal human language. But we couldn't naturally speak each other's. It was difficult for us. Against our nature. Some of the angels, however caught on to how to translate the demon language on the war front so they could decode our hidden messages. Ku, ku, ku. I guess some of their subspecies were just naturally talented with language, and some were... less so. Ku!"

"That sucks that they tried to decode your hidden messages. That must have been hard." Fuyuki tried to sympathize. "Did any of the demons learn the angel language?"

"Most of them didn't care enough to. Unlike the angels, sadly, most of us weren't smart enough to realize we could only read their messages if we were able to read their language." Kululu shrugged. "And anyway, since there were more demons than angels, the angels could easily capture one of us to teach them how to read and write in Monese."

"So you don't know what any of this says?"

"I didn't say that." Kululu sounded proud. "Ku, ku, ku. As a super genius, I am the exception, of course. I'm a bit rusty, having not practiced in ten thousand years, but I was once very fluent."

Fuyuki smiled. Even though Kululu was definitely bragging, it was very interesting to learn that at least there was one person who could read the ruins. His eyes sparkled. "What does it say?" He loved ruins, and he was super excited to hear what they said.

"They're mostly prophecies, and fables passed down through the angels. Prophecies that humanity and the demons should have seen ten thousand years ago about how they were coming for us. Ku, ku, ku." He lingered on one particular line for a moment.

"What does that one say?" asked Fuyuki.

"The Messenger of Death will destroy the evil of the world, and the world will once again enjoy peace," Kululu read.

Fuyuki laughed. "I suppose nobody suspected that the evil was the angels and you were going to con the Messenger of Death into destroying them all."

Kululu turned away from the writing to examine other things.

Fuyuki noticed a few things. Paintings! He had barely ever seen any drawings of angels except the ones where they had wings.

When he picked up the paintings, however, he was terrified at the imagery he saw. Instead of what he had imagined the creatures looking like, they were much more monstrous, having three heads on their bodies, and forked tongues.

"Is... Is this what angels looked like, Kululu?" he asked. He didn't know if he'd have had the courage to go up against a monster like THAT on the battlefield.

"Ku! No! That's a supspecies. What? Did you think all angels look alike? Even demons look different, with different horns and ears. Some of us even have tails, like Tamama," Kululu pointed out. "For an angel shrine, they sure do make these angels look monstrous. No wonder you sound frightened."

He picked up another canvas to see a different painting. This one looked more like a skeleton with long sharp bones and wings. Fuyuki shivered. "They were ten feet tall. Ku, ku, ku," Kululu told him, just to be a jerk.

Fuyuki jumped. "Angels are scary!"

Were there any ones that didn't look like absolute monsters? Another picture looked a little better. The most normal-looking of them had tough golden armor. Flipping to another canvas, Fuyuki found one species that had sharp blades instead of feathers for wings.

He was glad he hadn't fought against these creatures.

Kululu finally flipped to the last piece and stared for a moment at the final subspecies. This one had regular feather wings, and three eyes, the third being on their forehead.

"What were they like?" Fuyuki asked.

Kululu didn't answer. He just put the picture away.

"You know... I like extinct species and ruins, but I'd much rather this be a dinosaur excavation site than an angel shrine," Fuyuki decided. "So don't worry, Kululu. I know they're all monsters, and I'd never side with them."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"You seem stressed out about this temple even existing. So I wanted to reassure you that I'm not like Dororo's friend," Fuyuki told him, smiling. "They're evil, so very evil."

"Uhhhhh..." Kululu didn't say anything besides that.

* * *

It was the first year of the war against the angels. And the demons were getting their butts kicked.

 _I don't know what to do! I'm losing. I'm going to go down in history as the worst Demon King in history... Well, if there is any history about demons after this._ Kululu's hair was tangled in stress and worry.

He had never been in a war before. Ruling the demon realm was easy as long as he kept them afraid of him. He had thought he would have had a long and amazing reign. He had even started gaining some popularity before this war by bringing the demons to a new age of prosperity - he had been encouraging them to possess humans more than necessary and to make their mark on the human plane, making it their second home.

Even he was currently in a human body. The human spirit he had easily dispatched and made the body look exactly like his own to make it feel more homey.

But apparently, doing whatever he wanted on the human plane had dragged out the attention of another species that he hadn't heard much about - the angels. They were going on and on about how sinful demons were, and how they were dooming the planet, and how everybody was going to die because of his actions, and how their species wasn't even supposed to live this long. And of course, with those accusations, war had started between the two sides.

And he was vastly inexperienced when it came to war. Because of him, the demons was losing badly.

Even the humans were trying to fight against the demons, not wanting their bodies possessed. Sure, the humans might have been fighting against the angels, too, because the angels had been killing them off, but the humans were just putting their forces into fighting both of them off equally.

And it was straining everyone.

 _Ku, ku, ku... If the humans find out that the reason the angels are after them is just because they don't want us demons to starve them out, I'm sure the humans will put all their supplies in eliminating us..._ This was hard. But then a thought struck him. _Wait a second! The humans don't know that! They don't know that the angels' true enemy is us! They think the angels are equally going after them, because THEY think they did something wrong, too!_

 _Ku, ku, ku... You know what they say... The enemy of my enemy is my friend._ It was time to spread some false information. If he spread some anti-angel propaganda, told the humans that the angels were going to eliminate them for being sinful, the humans might focus on the angels more. It might buy him some time.

 _I need a vacation. This war... I'm not very good at it._

* * *

"I come in peace." Kululu told the human emperor of the time. Some guy who he probably would kill later after he had served his purpose of spreading the information around that he intended to give. After all, he couldn't let it get out that he was spreading lies. "I need to tell you why the angels are going after you."

The human listened, but was on edge.

"They think you're sinful. They want to return this world to its natural state, with only monsters roaming around. Anyone who can have a free will and not live off natural instinct is too much for them to handle, so they've decided to eliminate both our species altogether," Kululu explained.

The man seemed to believe it. Anything with three heads or three eyes just seemed unlucky.

 _Ku, ku, ku. Good. He doesn't suspect anything that it's only our species the angels are trying to eliminate. Hopefully, this'll get them to kill each other. And then we'll just have the mindless humans left to harvest, the ones who are children, or disabled. We'll have to breed some more, but it should be easy enough._

"They've destroyed millions, you know. They've destroyed species just like yours and mine who used to exist on this planet. Do you know there used to be mermaids in the sea? Gone now. And apparently, even on other worlds, other dimensions, there used to be other species. But the angels needed to eliminate them just because of their own bloodlust and personal values," Kululu told the emperor. "Ku, ku, ku!"

"I knew it! I knew three eyes meant evil!" the emperor yelled.

Kululu left, letting him yell. Humanity didn't know that they were just the sad race caught in the middle of the angels' and demons' fight.

He had no remorse for what he had done. Instead, he felt proud at the decision that had probably saved his species.

 _Maybe I CAN be a good king. Bet Shupepe couldn't have done that._

* * *

Dororo, meanwhile, had not found any trace of Koyuki.

"Hey man. I found something you might want to see." Keroro handed him a letter that had been left on his friend's bed.

" _Dearest Travelers_ ," Dororo read out loud.

" _I'm sorry I left my duty to this shrine. I will not be able to look after it at the moment. I know I should dedicate my whole life to the angels, but instead I've become selfish - a quality they hated so much._

" _You see, I've found someone in my life who became a dear friend of mine. We hit it off immediately despite him being a demon. But it was not to last, and my friend was murdered by the Demon King himself! All he wanted to do was to free everybody from the Demon King's rule, but he died for it. So I've chosen to devote my life to killing the Demon King in his place to honor my friend's memory. I'm sorry that I am dishonorable to the angels, but I've discovered that Dororo is just more important to me and that I must exact vengeance for him._

 _\- The last time you'll ever hear from Koyuki Azumaya._ " Dororo finished reading. He was touched that Koyuki would go so far for him - she was truly a wonderful friend - but he was worried for her, too.

What if she went to town looking for Kululu, and people assumed she had a demon because of her age and killed her?

"Koyuki..." He held the letter close, wishing dearly he could see her.


	16. Skelebabies

**More Kururu torture this chapter mua ha ha**

 **-Scissors**

* * *

In all his years of being an assassin, Dororo had never felt so afraid.

The images from the nearby town stuck in his head—the smoke, the dead bodies flung everywhere, the carcasses hung over signs, the collapsed buildings, the expired children and teens. War had taken hold of the lands. Dororo, being an intelligent person, easily deduced what Natsumi's H.A.D. movement had caused: Humans, at this point, were so desperate to rid themselves of demons that they were taking down fourteen- to sixteen-year-olds in order to also take down the demons they were hosting. The problem was that Koyuki was in that age range—and yes, she was not hosting a demon herself—but who else knew that? Nobody. Nobody but Dororo.

Koyuki was in terrible danger.

"We have to find her," Dororo said. He clutched her last letter so tightly in his hands that it crinkled. "We _have_ to."

Keroro put a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him best he could. "Well… what do you think we should do?"

The paper crumpled as Dororo clenched his fist. "We need to go find her. We need to look for Koyuki. We need to get to her before… before the rest of the humans get to her first." He swallowed. "Keroro, Koyuki had never hosted a demon before. But she is at the proper age of being able to. We _have_ to find her."

"Okay, I get it. I understand," Keroro told him. The images of the town were still stuck in his head, as well. "I'll get the others."

A little later, he returned with Tamama, who had been looking for him anyway, and Kululu, who he had found in the shrine. After explaining the situation and how Koyuki was out there, leaving out the part about how she wanted to kill Kululu, they groaned.

"Does this mean we have to do _more_ walking?" said Kululu. "Fuyuki, you're getting the body this time."

"Hey!" Fuyuki protested. But it was too late. This was the life he now had.

"So… um… where ARE we going?" asked Tamama.

Dororo looked out a window and thought about this. He wasn't sure quite where to look for Koyuki. Where would she go if she was going to kill Kululu? Where would _he_ go if he was going to kill Kululu? He had gone into town, so it was likely that Koyuki would, too.

"We must go into town. Then we can get all our information on Koyuki from there," said Dororo.

"But… won't that be pretty risky?" Saburo asked. "Our cover might be blown. Everyone is already searching desperately for us. If we stay too long, it could end badly."

"Perhaps," Dororo considered. "But it is our only lead at the moment in finding Koyuki. We have to search the towns and all information that humans might have of her location."

The others sighed, conceding to Dororo's whim. It wasn't like they had anything else to do, anyway. Secretly, even though it was part of an angel shrine, they all wished they could stay at Koyuki's hut. Traveling was getting soooo tiring.

Taking their bags, they departed.

* * *

When they came upon the nearest town, however, something was amiss.

"Where is everyone?" Saburo wondered. "There are only, like, thirty people here on the streets."

Aside from those people, the town almost seemed deserted. Usually, they ought to have been bustling with activity, especially if there was some war going on at the moment.

"You there." Saburo tugged at a passerby, an old man. "What happened to everyone?" He covered his mouth with his hand in disgust. "Don't tell me that they…"

But when the old man saw who they were, his eyes widened and he stepped back. "You kids shouldn't be here!"

"Oh no, he totally found us out…" Fuyuki groaned.

"If you stay in town, they'll get you for sure," the old man warned them. "I heard a rumor that all the children from the secondary school have vanished. Not a trace of them. Some of the adults in town, as well." He shook his head. "Strange things have been happening. And it's kids like you who will have to pay for it!" He pointed to Dororo. "Except for you, because you are not a kid!"

"Um… all right," said Dororo. "Excuse me, mister, but speaking of kids…. You don't happen to have heard anything about a dark green-haired girl passing through here, did you?" he asked. "About fifteen and a half in age?"

The man shook his head. "Whatever kids have come through here have not stayed for very long. I suggest you four move along, as well." After his words, the old man walked away from them.

"How strange," Fuyuki commented, itching his neck. "I wonder what's causing all the disappearances?"

"Let's just hope," Dororo said, swallowing hard as memories of the razed town flashed through his head, "that it isn't what I think it is."

* * *

It wasn't.

Back at the Nishizawa manor, Momoka had rounded up every fourteen- to sixteen-year old in the nearest towns and gathered them all in a safe house, away from the public's eye. There were so many of them, which meant just as many demons. Momoka had never seen so many kids in one place together, so she had never thought that so many demons could possibly exist. But it was all she could do to ensure their survival during this thoughtless H.A.D. movement.

In a separate area, away from the eyes of the children, was a space for the adult demons. It had been harder to round them up—Momoka still hadn't found them all—because it was so hard to tell which adults in society were demons and which weren't. Luckily, the Nishizawa corporation had unlimited access to secret government files, all of which did not confirm who were demons and who weren't, but did contain reports of such accusations. That was all Momoka had to go off of, and now, the number of adults she had gathered was the best she could do for now.

"Phase One of the plan is complete, Mistress," her butler spoke, "and in incredible time. This will give us more than enough time to complete Phase Two, the reestablishment of a new Nishizawa Contract."

Momoka looked down. Something seemed to be on her mind.

"Mistress?"

"Oh." She snapped her head up. "Forgive me, Paul. I'm just worried for Fuyuki. I can't leave the estate, so while he's out there… there's nothing I can do to assist him. Who knows when it will be till I can finally reestablish the contract."

"That is quite true," Paul agreed. "At this point, all we can really do is to hope that Fuyuki Hinata comes to us."

"Paul!" she realized. "Can't _you_ go out to search for him? You can leave the estate!"

"If only that were so," he muttered. When he saw her confusion, he explained himself. "I cannot leave you on your own, Mistress. As your butler, it is my duty to accompany you and ensure your safety."

She lowered her chin, disappointed.

"In the meantime…" said Paul, "…shall we start implementing Phase Three?"

Momoka took a deep breath. "Yes."

"Very well." Paul gave a nod. "I have already assembled an appropriate amount of soldiers for the mission, and our costume-makers have already tailored enough angel outfits and defensive gear for every single one of them. We shall start the training as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Paul," Momoka tried to say. Her voice was strained, because she knew what they were doing was wrong, sacrificing a thousand soldiers to appease what foolishness had created, but could not take back now, much like a zip tie.

But there was nothing else they could do.

* * *

One day ago, Koyuki was nowhere close to any town. Instead she was with Zeroyasha, putting a sweet potato frequently to his snout. "Okay, boy! Follow the scent!" she told him. Originally she was going to use something of Natsumi's, like a piece of cloth or something, but she didn't have any of that, so she eventually decided that a sweet potato would suffice.

Natsumi Hinata had a very recognizable smell to her. She smelled like the city, from all her years of living in one; she smelled like the strong, acidic pines of the forest; she smelled like the heat of battle, from having fought so many monsters during her travels; but most of all, she smelled like sweet potatoes. She smelled like other foods, too, but the scent of sweet potatoes were definitely the strongest on her. Maybe it was because she ate them constantly. The demon she was traveling with was probably to blame—he carried _tons_ of them with him.

Oddly, however, it wasn't the scent of sweet potatoes that tipped her off to Natsumi's location, but rather the smell of smoke.

"Something's burning!" she realized. Looking to the sky, there was a huge grey streak, and not one of the ones foretelling rain.

Zeroyasha started barking, warning Koyuki that he smelled maximum sweet potato in the direction of where the smoke was coming from.

"Either Natsumi must be the worst cook ever," said Koyuki, "or she's in terrible danger! Quick, Zeroyasha, we have to find out!"

Together, the two of them flitted through the trees, trying to get to the source of the smoke as quickly as possible. When they broke out of the forest, they finally spotted Natsumi.

Zeroyasha growled, but Koyuki stroked the back of his neck, trying to calm him down. "Let's wait here for a moment, Zeroyasha. Right now is not the time to strike." She placed her hand on her side bag, which was filled with an assortment of weapons.

The source of the fire it seemed had already gone out. Now, there was only a concrete structure sitting among ashes, with smoke seeping out of the windows.

"I'm _telling_ you, we should at least search inside the building before we go off looking for them!" Natsumi was saying to Giroro. She was hauling buckets of water back and forth with him from the nearby lake.

Giroro tossed the latest bucket through the window, and a hissing sounds was heard from within. "No, they've definitely already escaped by now. The longer we put the fire out, the farther away they'll get!" he argued. "How soon do you want to find your brother?"

"He could still be somewhere in the house!" she insisted.

 _So she's looking for her brother,_ Koyuki thought. Natsumi turned back around to scoop up some more lake water in the bucket. _Now is the time to strike!_

Out from her hiding place in the trees, Koyuki sprung, throwing out her knives from where she held them at her chest to Natsumi.

"Aah!" Natsumi shouted. She stumbled backward and fell on her posterior in the sand. She just barely dodged the blades' paths.

"Give it up, Natsumi!" Koyuki shouted.

"Give up what?"

"The angel staff!" Koyuki continued throwing knives. "I know you still have it!"

"No! You can't have it back!" Natsumi stood up and started using a metal plate from the house to deflect the knives. "If you kept it, it would just stay secured on the wall of your shrine, never to be used. But I need it more! I have been helping people across the world! To them, I am a symbol!"

"You have no idea of the power that staff holds!" Koyuki said.

"Yeah, well, neither do you!"

"It doesn't matter! It belongs to the angels!" She thrust her hands into her bag and grabbed some stars which she started throwing, since she had run out of knives.

At this point, Giroro reached out his hands to grab the next bucket of water from Natsumi, but when he received nothing, he turned around. He was confused to see Natsumi battling that angel worshipper. He scratched his head. _Where did she come from?_

"Um… you want some help, Natsumi?" he called to her.

"No! I got this, Giroro!" she shouted back to him. "You just keep dumping water into that house, all right?"

Giroro sighed and went over to the lake with his empty bucket as Natsumi and Koyuki duked it out.

"I need that staff for a greater purpose than you do!" Natsumi said.

Koyuki found that hard to believe. "Oh really? Like what?"

Natsumi kicked away one of the stars. "I'm saving children from the burden of demons! From their lies they enforce upon society! From everything they do! What would _you_ do with the staff?"

"I would kill the Demon King," said Koyuki.

"Oh… I was actually going to kill the Demon King, too."

"Oh… Oh, wait really?" Koyuki stopped throwing knives. "Well… I suppose I can put taking the staff back on hold for the moment." She tapped her chin. "Say, do you happen to know where the Demon King is?"

"Unfortunately, he's in my brother."

"Oh." Koyuki looked surprised. "I'm awfully sorry. Well, mind if I come along with you?"

"No, not at all." Natsumi smiled, glad that Koyuki wasn't killing her anymore. "We were just going to check inside this house to see if my brother and his group were still inside."

"Why'd you burn it down if he was in there?" she wondered.

"It's…" Natsumi's eyes darted to Giroro. "…complicated."

Giroro walked back to them. "I just searched the place," he reported. "Couldn't find any bodies. I did find a dead squirrel, though. Burned now. So I think your brother and the others must have successfully escaped."

"Phew." Natsumi put her hand to her chest in relief. "Which way do you think they could have gone?"

"I have absolutely no idea," said Giroro. The great thing was, this wasn't even a lie. He really didn't know where Keroro and Dororo were.

"I'm thinking we should head to the nearest town and gather as much information as we can. They can't keep hiding from me forever." She picked up her bags and began to walk. "You two coming?"

"Yeah," Giroro and Koyuki said together. Zeroyasha followed along.

"Sorry that I had to steal your shrine's staff, Koyuki," Natsumi apologized, "but when you see all that I've done for society, you'll think differently."

"I'll need that staff back soon," Koyuki said, "after we kill the Demon King. It really does belong in the shrine."

"Aww…." Natsumi frowned, giving her puppy-dog eyes. It would have killed a Giroro, but not a Koyuki. "Doesn't your shrine have extras?"

"No. That's the only one of its kind. Came straight from the battlefield of the Ancient War," she explained.

"So… they'll be more angel artifacts at the battlefield, right?"

"I'm not going there!" Koyuki protested. "That's many days' travel way. Besides, I don't even know what old angel artifacts are capable of doing. I only knew about that one from stories that were passed down to me as a kid." She let out a sigh. "Honestly, I didn't think about the fact that the Demon King was in a young kid, no less your own brother. I was planning to kill him in his host body… take his host down with him."

Natsumi scowled. "No. I can't let my brother be taken down with the Demon King."

"A worthy sentiment," Koyuki agreed with a giggle.

"Why do _you_ want to kill him, anyway?"

"He killed a friend of mine," was all she said, sounding darker.

"He's killed a lot of people."

"Like you've been killing a lot of demons?"

"Demons don't count." Natsumi turned her head to Giroro. "Unless it's Giroro, of course."

He flashed her a pointy-toothed smile. But on the inside, he was hurting. _It's all about killing demons nowadays. I'M a demon. Doesn't she realize I have family and friends who are also demons? Wait, no… of course not. I haven't told her. Augh… I'm so terrible at this! And she says she wants to kill Kululu, but does she really? Is she just masking some ulterior motive? No—I can't doubt Natsumi. It's wrong of me to be so distrusting, especially almost after killing her brother._ Even still, he couldn't help feeling anxious. Also, he noticed how quickly Natsumi and Koyuki were getting along, at least in his eyes…. Was he getting replaced as Number One Companion?

Even worse, with two more people on their team (including Zeroyasha) to track Fuyuki's group, Dororo and Keroro were coming that much closer to their demise. At least if Koyuki went off on her own and found the group first, she would reunite with Dororo, who Giroro knew she was friends with. She might even switch to their team if that happened.

"Hey, Natsumi," he whispered to her, "wouldn't it be better if we split with Koyuki?"

"What? Already?" She frowned. "You're not getting jealous again, are you?"

"N-No! Of course not!" he halfway denied. "I'm just saying… Koyuki and her dog look like they're a good tracking team. Maybe if we sent them off on their own, they'd be able to find Fuyuki's group first, and secretly lead them to us."

Natsumi grinned. "Giroro, that's the best idea you've had all week." This hurt him. "Hey! Koyuki!"

"Yeah?" Koyuki turned to her.

"We're going to try a new tactic to cover more ground. Giroro and I will split up with you two from here, because we need you to go search for my brother on your own, and secretly lead him to us. He's shorter than me, has dark blue hair that sticks up at the top, and is constantly giving friendship speeches. And his name is Fuyuki Hinata. You won't be able to miss him when you find him," she described. "The Demon King, who resides in him, is named Kululu, and he laughs with a 'ku ku ku' and will probably try to kiss you if you get close enough."

"I'll be on my guard," Koyuki assured her. "Don't worry, Natsumi. I'll find your brother and lead him to you, and then we can kill the Demon King using the angel staff."

"Awesome. We'll just be waiting in the next town over," she told her.

The four of them parted—Koyuki heading to the battlefield in mountains to take up Natsumi's suggestion and stock up on some angel gear so she'd be able to fight Fuyuki's group if it came down to it—and Giroro and Natsumi heading toward the town with carnage and trashed buildings.

They just barely missed Fuyuki's group.

* * *

Now it was a few days later, and the four runaways in Fuyuki's group had moved on from the previous town where so many people had disappeared from.

They were making their way up a steep hill when a dog came frantically barking at them.

"What? What did we do?" Keroro wondered. "Shh, dog! You're going to give us away!"

"Keroro, there's no one here," Fuyuki told him with a laugh. He stooped to face the dog. "Hey, pup. Whatcha doing way up in the hills?"

The dog walked past him and went to Dororo.

"Everyone, stop!" Dororo told them. "This is Zeroyasha!"

"Huh?" asked Tamama.

" _Koyuki's_ dog!"

He tilted his head to the side. "Yes, but why do we care?"

Dororo sighed. "If Zeroyasha's here, that must mean that Koyuki is someplace nearby. We have to find her and warn her about all the youths' disappearances and deaths."

"We're in the mountains," Keroro reminded him. "Ain't no towns here anyway."

"Well, I'm going to follow the dog." Dororo scratched Zeroyasha behind the ear. "Come on, boy, lead us to Koyuki." He started walking off with the dog, so Keroro shrugged and followed after him, Fuyuki and Tamama trailing closely behind.

Eventually, as they made their way further up the hill, the path inclined more, and the trees started getting smaller and smaller. Fuyuki started feeling a bit nauseas. "Urg… guys, I feel like I'm gonna puke," he told them.

"Ah, no problem, Fuyuki." Keroro took Fuyuki by the shoulders and turned him around so that he was facing the mountain downhill. The sight astounded him. They had travelled so far up! "If you're afraid of heights, all you gotta do is puke it out."

"But… I'm not afraid of heights," said Fuyuki. "Maybe I just haven't eaten enough today. Too much exercise or something."

Keroro tossed him the food bag. "Eat up, then."

Fuyuki took out some food to eat as they walked, but when he tried to bite into anything, he couldn't seem to get it into his mouth. He just really had no appetite. His legs were starting to shake, as well. Maybe he really _had_ done too much walking for one day. He could believe that. He put the food away and continued along. If he couldn't eat, then he couldn't eat.

Everyone adjusted their cloaks tighter around their bodies. Zeroyasha started whimpering. _Does it really have to be this cold so high up?_ Fuyuki wondered. He caught a bit of snowfall out of the corner of his eye. How long had they been walking now?

"Mr. Keroro, it's sooo cold," Tamama shivered, leaning against Saburo's body. "You should let me huddle with you under your cloak like a penguin."

"Haha, penguins," Keroro laughed. He allowed Tamama to do this because of the penguins.

Right now, Fuyuki only looked at them in envy. He wished he had someone he could huddle up against.

" _We really shouldn't be going up here_ ," Kululu warned him. " _I can tell your body's not so good with the cold_."

"Nobody's b-body is good with the cold," Fuyuki countered. "D-Dororo's f-friend is up here. She's probably f-freezing, too."

" _Well, if you're going to be like that, then I'm taking control_." Kululu pushed forward and started walking the opposite direction, until Keroro caught him.

"Fuyuki, we're almost there," he said. Tamama was enraged that Keroro stopped huddling with him. "I know you're scared of heights. You don't have to fake it. Just don't look down."

Just to be mean, Kululu looked down. Unfortunately, this did nothing, because neither of them were afraid of heights.

"You can let me down now," Kululu told him dully. "I'm not Fuyuki."

"Oops. Ew." Keroro dropped him.

"Sucker." Tamama stuck out his tongue at Kululu and looped his arm around Keroro's, who seemed confused.

Kululu groaned and rubbed his head, but eventually stood up and kept walking.

Soon the ground leveled out, and a thin sheet of ice covered the rocky terrain like a glaze. They had finally made it to the top of the mountain. Fuyuki, now in control, turned around and looked out toward the view. The sun was just starting to go down, and the way that it hit the icy rocks in some places could have practically blinded a person.

Dororo, Keroro, and Tamama, on the other hand, were the ones who were starting to feel rather sick to their stomachs now.

"I remember this place," Dororo whispered.

"How could I ever forget," said Keroro.

Tamama just snarled.

"What? What is it?" asked Fuyuki.

For a moment, they were silent. Then Dororo told him, "Look."

Something about the way he'd said it frightened Fuyuki, but he looked anyway. And when he did, that strange nausea arose in him again.

Stretching before them was a vast battlefield, in which scattered everywhere were the fossilized skeletons of demons, humans, and what he could have only assumed were angels, all hardened into the ground like misshapen rocks that were permanently etched into the mountain's peak. Fuyuki was absolutely frozen.

Dororo froze in his steps, fixated on something as well.

"What is it? Keroro asked.

"Koyuki… _is_ here," he said quietly. Then he broke into a run. "KOYUUUKIIIII!"

Koyuki was sitting amongst a pile of uneven rocks, sorting various frozen artifacts when she heard the yell. She looked up in perplexity when she caught sight of none other than Dororo. Her jaw dropped, her mouth locked in a gasp. _Dororo!_ she thought. _You're not dead!_ she wanted to say. She wanted to run up to him and hug him, but she knew that wouldn't work. She also wanted to tell him, _Don't run!_ but of course, Dororo found this out for himself when he slipped on a rock and fell face-first into the sleety mud of the mountaintop.

"Dororo!" She finally found her voice and rushed over to him to help him up. He took her arm and groaned as he got to his feet. His entire nose was red, thanks to the fall. "What's going on? Why aren't you dead like you told me you were?"

"I sent the letter prematurely, Koyuki," he said to her. "I… I thought I would die for sure. Kululu had maimed me severely, and the human doctors there refused to treat me on account of my demonhood." He gave a soft smile. "But there was one doctor there—a demon, and a very kind one—who helped me recover. Without her, I don't think I would have survived."

"Oh, Dororo!" Koyuki flung her arms around her friend in a tight hug. She pulled away from him. "Where is the Demon King now? How can I get to him?"

"Oh, he's actually with us." Dororo gestured to Fuyuki, who was just making his way toward them.

Koyuki couldn't take it. She knew she had made a promise to Natsumi, that they would exorcise Kululu, but the rage overtook her. She grabbed a knife from her bag and charged at him.

"Wait!" Dororo begged her, pulling her back. "That's Natsumi's brother. Didn't you say you met Natsumi and Giroro when they were traveling? That's Fuyuki Hinata!"

"I know, I know!" Koyuki thrashed about in Dororo's arms. "Dororo, let me go. Please! Okay. I won't hurt him."

He sighed. "Fine."

When she was free, Koyuki rushed up to Fuyuki. "Why did you do it, Demon King?" she demanded. "Why did you try to kill Dororo? And now you're _traveling_ with him, like it doesn't even matter anymore?"

Fuyuki gave the body over to Kululu.

"Me?" Kululu pointed at himself. "I didn't kill Dororo. I didn't even try to." He grabbed Dororo and put his arm around his shoulder. "Look, we're the best of buddies, ku ku ku!"

"Nah, not really." Dororo took his arm off. "Koyuki, everything's fine now between us. I've since stopped trying to kill the Demon King, and in return, he won't kill me." He frowned. "Instead he'll do other things, like put bleach on my clothes, and take the aglets off my shoelaces…." He went away to go sob.

"Ku ku ku," Kululu laughed.

Koyuki felt so conflicted. So… Dororo was safe? Kululu and he were even traveling together. In that case… that made her motive to kill the Demon King absolutely null and void. Did she still have to uphold her promise to Natsumi? Might as well, she decided. Kululu had almost killed Dororo, and that was bad enough.

Seeing Dororo sobbing, Keroro finally came over, but Tamama went to go wander off on his own. But Keroro, instead of comforting Dororo, walked right past to talk to Koyuki. "So you're Dororo's friend?" he asked. "The weird angel-worshipper?"

"Yes…" Koyuki trailed off.

Whatever else Keroro was going to say was forgotten as Dororo hopped back up to his feet. "Wait, Koyuki!" he said. "What are you doing on the Ancient Battlefield, anyway?" He rubbed his arms. "It's freezing out here!"

"Oh… I was just getting some more angel artifacts," she told him, omitting the fact that it was originally to fight Fuyuki's group if she needed to. She splayed a few of them out for Dororo to see. "They're still very frozen, but they haven't fossilized like all the skeletons here, so I should be able to take them back to the shrine when—"

Kululu cut her off. "You shouldn't be taking things from the battlefield."

"Why not?" she asked him. "Nobody else was going to take them. They've been sitting here in perfect condition for ten thousand years. I don't see why I shouldn't be able to bring them to the shrine."

"They're not yours. You shouldn't take them."

"But they're—"

"Ku ku ku! For an angel worshipper, you sure aren't very respectful of them," he mocked, tucking Fuyuki's arms behind his head.

Koyuki frowned. Yeah, she was definitely going to hand this guy into Natsumi.

"Oh! Speaking of angel artifacts," Dororo brought up, "Koyuki, do you happen to know how Fuyuki's sister managed to get hold of an angel staff?"

"Yes." Koyuki looked down. "Its original place was in the shrine, but when she saw it, she—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Kululu cut her off again. "Wait a second. You're saying that she _stole_ it?"

" _People steal things all the time_ ," Fuyuki reminded him. " _Why are you suddenly acting so oblivious about this?_ "

"I—I thought it was hers," he choked out. He sounded shocked, even slightly ashamed. Fuyuki's facial features twisted as Kululu cocked a brow. "So Koyuki… that staff isn't _yours_ , is it?"

"No. It belongs to the angels," she responded. "Well, my town actually took it off of the battlefield—"

"You can't just keep doing these things!" Kululu yelled at her. "That's straight-up grave robbing! Have none of you any _conscience_?!"

At this outburst, everyone turned to Kululu in surprise, except Keroro, who laughed at the irony of that statement. Kululu cleared his throat and quickly composed himself. "Everything here smells like death," he remarked. "And my toes are freezing off. I think we should leave."

Fuyuki could feel him trembling.

"Um, okay, sure," Keroro agreed.

"Now that we've found Koyuki again, I'd be more than happy to leave these memories," Dororo murmured, looking around himself at all the fossilized skeletons.

Koyuki breathed out a sigh and put the artifacts in her bag. "All right. I'll go with you guys."

They were all about to leave the mountain when Tamama came bounding toward them.

"Wait! Everyone!" he yelled. "There's something you gotta see!"

"Darn it. Thought we could all just forget him and leave him on the mountain," Kululu muttered. Keroro coughed, trying not to show that he halfway agreed with him.

"You really have to see it! It's sooo cute!" Tamama giggled sadistically. Then his eyes went over to Koyuki. "Um… you should come see it too, strange person."

"Koyuki," she said.

"Yeah. Koyuki. Come on, you guys!" He grabbed Keroro's wrist and walked off, and the rest of the group had no choice but to follow.

Tamama led them a little ways off the main site of the battlefield and they reached a more peaceful-looking location where some trees were growing. Resting against the trunk of a tree, and overgrown with lichen, was a winged skeleton that would have been just a little taller than Fuyuki, if it had been standing upright.

"Look at that!" Tamama pointed downward and gushed to something in the skeleton's lap. "Issa little baby skeleton! Ain't it cuuuute?"

"Aw, it's like a skelebaby!" Keroro laughed.

But the others just looked at it in horror. Dororo looked sick. Koyuki looked sick. Even _Kululu_ looked sick.

"I've gotta go," Dororo said.

"Me, too." Koyuki followed.

Keroro and Tamama, not seeing what was so wrong, followed after them. Kululu and Fuyuki stayed behind, however, locked on the skeleton.

Fuyuki knew that if he was in control of the body, he would have puked all over the fossil. The "skelebaby" that Tamama and Keroro were talking about was located right under the larger skeleton's ribcage, positioned upside-down. It didn't take a genius to figure out what that meant.

Fuyuki forced his eyes shut in horror. " _What moron would go out onto the battlefield pregnant?!_ " he said.

"It should have been buried," Kululu told him in response to this. He covered Fuyuki's hand over his mouth. "This is… sick."

As Fuyuki opened his eyes and stared at it longer, he noticed more things about the skeleton. He noticed how several small bones extended from its back and surrounded its body, and how there was a concave area on its forehead that resembled the space where a third eye would have once been. These features were on the skelebaby, too—a small set of wings curled around the babe's back… a large hole in the forehead. Both of the skeletons definitely belonged to angels. If he wasn't so uneasy, Fuyuki would have nerded out.

" _What's with the bigger skeleton's bones?_ " He pointed. Several of the bones on the larger skeleton appeared to be they were cracked, crushed, and dislocated.

"I—I don't know," Kululu admitted. He gripped the edges of Fuyuki's cloak to stop his hands from shaking. "My guess would be due to handling, decomposition, and fossilization. Someone must have been playing around with it ten thousand years ago." He gritted his teeth, which Fuyuki presumed was from the cold.

" _I don't feel so good_ ," said Fuyuki. " _Are we going to puke?_ "

"No, we're not," Kululu told him firmly. "I'm in control of the body and I am NOT going to vomit!"

" _But—_ "

"I know you're disturbed, Fuyuki, but this was the reality of the war," he said. "It was barbaric. Innocent people were killed. Adult angels, children angels…. Even pregnant angels like this one died." He quietly added, "Same goes for humans and demons, too, I'd wager."

They were both quiet for a moment, and then Kululu darted out of the area. For a second, Fuyuki wondered why, until he felt the nausea bubbling up again—heavily this time.

" _Wait… Kululu…. Kululu, no!_ " he pleaded. " _We can hold it in. We can—_ "

Too late. Kululu fell to his knees, keeled over, and vomited.

* * *

Since it was too dark now to travel down the mountain safely, the group decided that they had no choice but to stay on the mountain until morning, and each person would take shifts watching for monsters who might attack them during the night.

They had built a small campfire that some food was roasting on. Dororo pulled a bit of meat off of a stick and reached out to Fuyuki. "You should eat up."

"No, that's all right," said Fuyuki. "I'm really not that hungry right now." Anything he tried to keep down, he knew, would probably just come back up again.

"Very well." Dororo handed it to Koyuki instead. "So… Koyuki…."

"I can't tell you how much of a relief it's been to find out that the Demon King didn't actually kill you," she told him with a bright smile. "You gave me a good scare with that letter!"

"Ah." Dororo gave a light chuckle. "Well, then, I'm glad you weren't too disappointed."

"What?" She looked hurt that he would say such a thing. "Dororo, I cried for days. And then after that, I was torn between staying with my shrine or going out to kill Kululu! I was _devastated_!"

"Oh." He honestly felt flattered, but also really guilty. "I—I just…. It was wrong of me to send a letter so early and make you think I was dead." He gave a small sigh. "I suppose I was impatient."

"Impatient for what? For—" She fell silent. "Oh."

"It was surprising to learn just how much the humans hated us," he said. "I suppose I don't blame them. We exploit them and kill them in order to live. I used to, until I became mortal. But it wasn't until Fuyuki's sister started using that angel staff that I truly realized how desperate the humans are to get rid of us."

"I—I'm sorry," she said. She really meant it.

"Koyuki." Dororo suddenly turned to her and clutched her hands. "Please stick with our group. It's dangerous for you to be on your own."

"What? Why?"

"Children your age are dying," he warned. "Before we returned to your shrine, there was a town we visited. A… An awful town. All the young teenagers had been violently murdered and put on display." He narrowed his eyes. "You are aware of demon possession, correct?"

"Well, yes, of course I am—"

"Now consider how desperate the humans are to get rid of us. Don't you think it's possible that they're so desperate, they would try to kill a demon by taking down their host with them?"

"I suppose so," she shrugged. "But why does that put me in danger, Dororo?"

"Because you are at the age of demon possession, at least in the humans' eyes," he put plainly. "If they see you, they will assume you are currently hosting a demon. And they might try to kill you so they can kill your demon."

"What?" Koyuki was stunned.

"Can I say something?" Fuyuki jumped in. Dororo and Koyuki nodded. "Before running away with you guys, I visited Momoka. She… told me that the reason everyone's killing kids is because they want to emulate Natsumi."

"What?" Koyuki said again.

"Because of the angel staff, they see her as a symbol. They want to get rid of the demons, but there's only one way they know of." A tear fell down his cheek. "My sister started all of this and she doesn't even know."

"I can't believe this…" Koyuki murmured. She wanted to faint. To think that this was the girl she teamed up with earlier!

* * *

Fuyuki couldn't get to sleep that night. The fossilized skelebaby from the battlefield was haunting his mind.

It wasn't just the skelebaby. For some reason, Fuyuki kept going back in his mind to the Victory Festival play his class put on.

 _"And that's how the angels died! After the Demon King Kululu tricked the Messenger of Death into obliterating their own race, he then crushed them in cold blood, crushing their lungs when they went through the final struggle! However, I don't want to die so we won't show that." Kululu killed the last one in cold blood._

All of a sudden, it hit him why that memory kept circling in his head.

Kululu had neglected to mention a very important piece of information about that skeleton. The angel's bones weren't crushed due to handling, decomposition, and fossilization. Undoubtedly, they were due to a person crushing them. That wasn't just ANY angel.

That was the Messenger of Death. And it was Kululu who was at fault for her shattered wings.

Fuyuki wanted to vomit again. Kululu had suffocated and crushed the bones of a pregnant angel. And only after ten thousand years did he finally seem to be showing some speck of remorse.

* * *

Fuyuki did find sleep eventually. Kululu knew it couldn't last forever, the silly boy. Would he have nightmares? Probably. But then, so would Kululu, if he ever did go to sleep ever again.

Tonight, he did not. He had other business to take care of.

He wouldn't be able to go on with images of that skeleton looming in his head. It was a disturbing, taunting reminder of everything he wanted to forget, of all the foolish mistakes he had ever made. He didn't want to think of them. He wanted to move on from this.

As Fuyuki slept, Kululu took control of the body and put together a makeshift shovel using some of the materials the group had in their packs. Then he made his way back up to the top of the mountain. It was dark, but he could just barely see enough to get around. When he reached the area with the pregnant skeleton, he zapped the ground with a bolt of lightning to warm up the soil, then started shoveling dirt onto the entire fossil. He started with the feet and went up, like he was covering it in a blanket of earth, along with the rest of his regrets and traumas.

At last only the skeleton's head remained, and it looked up at Kululu as if to say, "Please don't bury me. I'd just like to stay out a little longer."

Before Kululu heard any more, he quickly dropped the last bit of dirt on the angel's face, sealing it up forever.

* * *

"Kululu… I think I'm pregnant."

Kululu nearly spat out the glass of water he had been drinking when he heard his wife's words. Pregnant? How? Scratch that, _when_? Instinctively, he looked her over. Now that she mentioned it, she did look awfully round around the middle…. But she had always looked like that. Wait, no, come to think of it, she was a lot slimmer back when they had started dating. But that was years ago. How long had this been going on, then? Kululu didn't know how long this sort of thing lasted. He didn't even know it was possible. The news had hit him like a brick.

"Well… how are you sure?" he challenged skeptically, clinging onto a small sliver of hope.

She let out a giggle. "I've been feeling kicks."

"Oh…." He supposed that was a surer sign than any. He couldn't believe this. All those requests for strange foods, all those complaints of hers about backaches and bellyaches, which he passed off as "nothing that a backrub won't solve" or "nothing that some curry won't fix…." They made sense now.

"Come feel." She guided his hand down to her protruding stomach, and he felt the movements almost immediately. It sent his heart beating like a drum. There was a thing he made that was growing and stirring in there—but nothing that he had made purposefully or scientifically. He was completely stunned, and honestly, he didn't know what to feel about it yet. Joy? Anxiety? He'd always disliked children as long as he could remember, but pretty soon, or eventually at least, it looked like he'd be taking care of one himself.

Seeing him lost in thought, his wife leaned up on her toes and planted a kiss on his cheek. "You'll be a great daddy, Kululu."

A great daddy? What made her think that? He hadn't even known his own dad for very long before Shupepe killed him and took his place as king, and she was aware of that. So he'd never had much of a fatherly figure in his life. He had no idea how he was supposed to act. Distant? Smothering? As a role model? What kind of role model? Would he even be able to spend _time_ with them along with his duties as a king? Or would he have to neglect them again? How long would he be able to get away with that? People would find out what he was up to eventually. Oh, god. How were they going to even do this without anyone even executing them?

Over the next few weeks, a sense of foreboding hung over him. A baby. They were going to have a baby! Every single scenario of what could go wrong kept running through his head. The kid would grow up isolated and lonely, hating life. Then one day it would come to Kululu in the demon realm, kill him, and take his place as ruler. And Kululu would never find out until it was too late, because he'd be stuck drowning with his duties as Demon King in the demon realm, only to see his own child once every thousand years, thanks to that stupid Nishizawa contract.

How did he think something like this would _ever_ work out?

And it wasn't just those kind of issues that bothered him. At the beginning of war council meetings on the human realm, the ones that he did have to attend, there was always this awkward period of time before they began, when demons just started showing up. The demons already there usually chatted amongst each other when that happened. And Kululu, desperate to keep his mind off of baby-related things, decided to listen in at one point.

"You won't believe the good news," one of his generals was saying. He stroked his beard with glee. "My wife has finally conceived! We'll have children in a little over half a decade."

"Oh, that's wonderful, sir!" said one of the general's underlings. "My wife and I are still talking about it, but we've agreed it's too soon. So we're going to put it off for at least another millennium."

 _What?_ The anxiety manifested itself in Kululu again. Here were two people, both thousands of years older than himself, not even close to the stage that he was at. His cheeks grew hot as he quickly became self-conscious. Compared to these much older people, he was still just a kid. What was he thinking, jumping into all this with his wife? He was the youngest Demon King on record, and the whole reason he was sucking so badly in this war! He wasn't ready for this. Neither of them were!

Back at his home with his wife, he attempted to explain things to her. "We can't do this, babe. There's no way we can. We're still too young."

"Aww. It'll be okay." She flashed him that overconfident smile of hers, her eyes glimmering with excitement and hope. "What's there to be worried about?"

"Besides _everything_?"

"…Right. Well, as long as we love each other, everything will work out!" She gave his hand an encouraging squeeze. "You could say, hard work and dedication?"

He hated it when she got all sappy like this. It made him feel weird. But he wrapped his arm around her back and gave her a kiss, to show her that he wasn't as afraid as she thought he might have been.

Even so, she could feel him trembling. She pulled him away and clutched him by his slick, curly horns so she could look him in the eye. "Kululu," she told him, "you need to relax, mister."

"I-I know…." He looked off to the side guiltily.

"Everything will be _fine_. We have a house, and food, and you're the Demon King, and also an inventor…." She grinned. "It'll be just like in the books." Of course, this didn't seem to put his mind at ease, so she switched tactics and lifted her blouse. "Here, why don't you try talking to the baby?"

He just frowned. "It wouldn't do any good, talking to something that wouldn't be able to say anything back."

"Well, not with that pessimistic attitude," she giggled. "I've been doing it. You could say, don't knock it till you've tried the handle?"

This earned a hint of a smile from him. "Ku ku ku! You know that's not how the saying goes."

She beamed superiorly. "It made you laugh, though."

Kululu sighed, relenting. "Fine." Lowering himself so that his mouth was level with the small sphere in her abdomen, his voice dropped in volume. "Hey, kid," he spoke. "Um… this is Daddy. How you been doing in there? Probably a bit cramped, I'm guessing." Oddly, he did find it rather comforting. He went on. "I hope you'll be able to tolerate me. Me and my strange antics. Ku ku ku. I'm sure you'll get used to it." He thought a moment. "Can't wait to meet you. It'll certainly be an adventure for the both of us."

"Okay, now listen for a response," she told him.

How was he even supposed to do that? His horns covered his ears. So he laid his cheek and hands against her skin. He heard nothing, but he definitely felt something moving in there. He supposed that was a good enough response.

"See? That wasn't too bad," said his wife as he got to his feet.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess you're right…. Yeah."

She gave him another kiss and took his hand, leading him away.

After Kululu got over his small anxiety bump, they finally moved on to more important steps of the process. They thought up baby names. Then they got distracted and thought up absurd baby names. Kululu teased his wife for all the weird foods she was craving. And she teased him for eating nothing but curry. Unfortunately she did not crave much curry during that time.

Kululu installed a new room in the house which they painted and filled with nursery items. However, it took a lot of work for his wife to explain to him what were appropriate nursery items and what weren't. And despite Kululu's frequent protests of, "But _I_ remember playing with subatomic parasynthetic neurotransmitting simulators when I was a demon pup!", she would not let him put a subatomic parasynthetic neurotransmitting simulator in the nursery. But they did put in a telescope.

That night in bed, as she lay against his bare chest and slept after their usual nightly activity, he calmed a little. Instead of going to sleep with her like he normally did (even though demons didn't require sleep, he still enjoyed the feeling of dreaming and then waking up with her), he stayed awake, thinking about the future. Absentmindedly, he stroked his hand across his wife's semi-swollen belly and received images in his head of small, infant hands reaching up toward him. Perhaps she was right; she knew him better than anybody, after all. Maybe they could actually pull this off. A speck of excitement grew in him. Would he really be a good daddy, like she said?

He never did find out.


	17. You Could Say, Love at First Hat?

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **There were a few guest questions so I will answer them. Villetta Nu: You asked before the time when countless demons are being killed, wouldn't the demon realm be very full because they are immortal and continue having children?**

 **They can die of old age, and most couples wait thousands of thousands of years to have children. Sickness and natural causes still exist that they can die from on the demon realm, (but not the human realm, if they die after they've destroyed their host and taken the body for themselves through natural causes they're free to go) Also there's probably a limit of how many children you can have, probably two is the max, except in Kululu's case because he was the son of the previous demon king who had twins first and then another child.**

 **So basically what I'm saying is it's not too over-populated, because although murder doesn't exist there, sickness does and after probably millions and millions of years they can probably die of old age.**

 **Also, Amyoflove, your question was why does Tamama have a tail? Because it's cute and it's a nice design feature. No other reason. It's just something extra his genetics gave him.**

* * *

He couldn't sleep at all. The restlessness, the worry, it was all floating around his head, along with the image of the skeletal baby.

It disturbed Fuyuki so much. It was the first time he had ever seen a skeleton, especially a fetal skeleton. To know that a child died in cold blood on the battlefield was just something wrong, so very wrong.

" _You should probably be sleeping,_ " Kululu told him as Fuyuki tried to huddle up in a warm cloak. They were still close to the battlefield, and the weather was very cold.

"I can't," Fuyuki said quietly in his mind, huddling up and shivering. "Every time I close my eyes I keep thinking about that baby."

" _...Me too._ " Fuyuki could scarcely realize what he was hearing. Kululu was trying to relate to him and empathize with his condition.

Fuyuki was quiet for a few moments. Neither of them seemed to want to think about that baby and the battlefield, so Fuyuki decided to change the subject, hoping that perhaps it would grant them both a little peace. "So... you thought Natsumi owned the angel staff? How would that work?" He tried to address what Kululu had said a day before.

" _I... It appears I thought too hard about the subject matter_ ," Kululu admitted. " _If I had lowered my intellect to that of an average person, I would have seen the facts that it wasn't possible for your sister to own that staff because it was supposed to be on the battlefield. My judgment was clouded._ "

Fuyuki nodded. That made sense. Kululu had acted the same at the Victory Festival when a picture of a giant bird had been confused as an angel as well. But Kululu knew Fuyuki. He should have known that it wasn't possible for his sister to be an angel.

 _I bet that kiss he gave her was some sort of mind game or something. He was trying to manipulate her into falling for him so he could destroy her and see if there were other angels out there like her. A danger to everybody._ Fuyuki was still disgusted about the kiss between them, but at least it meant that Kululu and Natsumi didn't really have a fling. _I'm glad... Kululu thinks so seriously about the angels._ It was one of the things Fuyuki admired about Kululu, how he was determined to prevent any future angel threats no matter what, and even the possibility of them coming back was enough to get his attention. It was one of the few subjects he didn't joke around with or act as a jerk about. He was just completely serious about it.

"So... just to make sure... You aren't going to kiss my sister again, right?" Fuyuki asked, trying to put a little humor in both their lives.

" _Ick! No! She's useless to me now! Not to mention very very ugly. Ick... Gross."_ Kululu was making wretching noises in his head, like he was about to vomit again.

Fuyuki tried to laugh, but the sadness of the previous day was still in his mind. That had been the closest he had ever been to a dead body, even if it was an angel's dead body.

 _I wonder...Why Kululu suddenly feels remorse for the angels?_ Fuyuki wondered. He recalled Kululu speaking about how the angel children didn't deserve what had happened to them. He wasn't sure why Kululu's opinion about the angels had changed over ten thousand years. He still seemed to see them as an enemy, so why was he so concerned for the children if he hated brats so much?

Suddenly, another reminder flashed through Fuyuki's head. An image that wasn't a dead skelebaby.

The image of the crib in Kululu's house going up in flames. _Oh._ Fuyuki realized, slowly. _It all makes sense now._

Kululu pitied the angels because he, too, had lost his child during the war. He hated brats that were alive, but felt pity for the Messenger of Death, who had also lost her child.

Tears came down Fuyuki's face. _That's so sad!_ he thought. He had finally figured out Kululu and the regret that he now felt.

" _What's wrong?_ " Kululu asked. He could only sense that Fuyuki was thinking about children, but honestly, so was he.

"I understand why you finally felt remorse for the angels after all these years... For that Messenger of Death," he said.

Kululu was silent, so Fuyuki continued. "You lost your child too, during the war, didn't you? Before it was born. That's why you have no heirs."

Kululu groaned, realizing denial wouldn't do any good in this situation. " _Was it the baby room that gave it away?_ "

Fuyuki nodded. "I'm...I'm so sorry...You didn't deserve that... A parent shouldn't be taken away from their child." He thought back to his mother's and Natsumi's reunion that seemed so happy.

" _I wasn't taken away from it. It had no place in this world. I probably wouldn't have been a good father anyway._ " Kululu tried to put up a tough front, probably to cope with the fact that his child would now never be a thing.

Fuyuki just felt sad for him. "What... Were you going to name it? I'm sure you might have been a good dad," he tried to comfort.

" _I wouldn't have. I hate brats,_ " said Kululu. " _When I wanted them, I was just infatuated with the idea of having a happy family. It wasn't real, though. It probably wouldn't have worked out."_

"But if it HAD worked out, what would the baby's name have been?" Fuyuki prodded again, hoping for Kululu to just accept the fact that at some point he had wanted the baby.

" _It was never decided. And honestly I'm glad. It would have been worse if I had picked a name and been bonded onto that brat, thinking them alive_." Kululu sounded distant, and mournful.

Fuyuki decided it was time to stop prodding. He tried to huddle up in his coat and let Kululu mourn instead of bringing back memories he clearly wanted buried.

He hoped he could forget the images of dead babies, too.

* * *

"Rise and shine!" Koyuki woke up everybody with a drum. "I made breakfast!"

"Oh boy! Food!" Tamama smiled, rising from sleep almost immediately for food. He frowned when he saw what was in front of him - cooked lizards.

"Th-this is very nice of you, Lady Koyuki." Dororo told her, politely taking a bite. He was the strongest one of the group because he managed to keep the food down.

"This looks disgusting. Ku, ku, ku! Why'd ya make it?" Kululu asked, going back to his usual jerky self.

"It tastes gross. Help me. I'm dying." Keroro played over-dramatic, gasping for air.

Koyuki's eyes shined with tears, but she frowned, determined. "Well... I left my shrine, and I want to stick with Dororo, so I was trying to bond a little bit more with your group. I don't know why you don't like my cooking."

"She murdered food. And I love food." Tamama cried, "Why would she do this?"

Koyuki crossed her arms. "I just wanted to get to know you all more and become friends! Why won't you let me into your lives?"

"Because your cooking sucks," Kululu told her honestly. "And we don't need someone else gross traveling with us. But if you want Tamama's spot I'm sure you can take it. Ku, ku, ku."

"Hey!" Tamama glared.

"Nah, Kululu's got a point. I mean, not about you, Tamama, but about how we don't need someone else traveling with us," Keroro pointed out. Tamama beamed, happy that Keroro had defended him. "We're not some traveling group of wandering minstrels, we can't just pick up every person who wants to join like an RPG."

"Lady Koyuki is going to travel with us. And so is her dog," Dororo insisted. "She's my friend and I'm glad that she wants to stick by my side. After all, it seems like she's one of the few friends that I have that do." He glared at Keroro, who easily forgot about him a lot.

"But... But! She has cooties! Girl cooties! I don't want a girl to join our group!" Keroro was immature about the decision. "What if she ditches us for Natsumi and leads her to us? I mean... What's the saying? That girls always stick together?"

"Natsumi may have been my friend at some point, but Dororo has told me that she is trying to kill you. I will not lead her to you. Do not worry." Koyuki bowed and told them honorably. Dororo smiled.

"I see no problem with her staying as long as she kicks Tamama out," Kululu spoke again. Koyuki shook her head.

"I don't want to kick anybody out," she insisted. _Except maybe you,_ she thought, looking at Kululu.

"But don't you work at an angel shrine?" Keroro pointed out as he grinned, knowing he had caught her in a web. "So... you probably don't like demons, and DO want to kick us out!"

Koyuki frowned and looked down. "I... I don't like most demons, it's true. The teachings in my shrine have always been 'demons are evil' and 'angels were right.' "

"Lady Koyuki..." Dororo squeezed her hand. "It can be hard to unlearn these things. But please do not hate these demons. They... Well, Keroro in particular for some reason, is my friend. And most demons are actually quite good. I wish to turn them into a peaceful race someday. That is my dream."

Koyuki smiled at him. "I didn't know Keroro was your friend!" She looked at Keroro and smiled, getting close, a bit too close for Keroro's liking. She out-stretched her hand. "A friend of Dororo's should be a friend of mine, as well."

Keroro hesitantly took her hand, wondering if it was poisoned. "You're just going to drop your vendetta against demons just like that? Just because your friend vouches for us?"

"Yep!" she hummed. "I still relate to the angels and respect them - I DID run a shrine for them - but I can stop hating demons who haven't harmed Dororo. I'm not going to just say that one demon is different from the whole. I'm going to listen to my friend when he tells me that he vouches for other demons."

 _Natsumi could learn a thing or two from her,_ almost everybody thought at Koyuki's respectful ways.

"But... like, you do know that the angels were actually giant dicks, right?" Tamama tried to point out, still a little uneasy about Koyuki accompanying them with her attitude about angels. "Like... we were all there. Why would one human be right about this over the demons who were actually there?"

"I'm sorry, Lady Koyuki, and I know it's hard for you to see that Tamama is right, but the angels were quite brutal. They seemed to believe that they were better than any other species and couldn't commit sin but could execute others for committing sin. Like they were a divine hammer," Dororo told her. "They were a brutal species, and although I'd hate to say anything is out-right evil... the atrocities they committed during that war is something that even frightened me, a cold-blooded assassin."

Koyuki looked down sadly, trying to take in Dororo's words as he clutched her shoulders and spoke to her honestly. "I... I don't want to believe that," she said, "Because if that was true, my whole life would have been dedicated to worshiping evil... But I can believe that I was desperate to believe they were good to cope with the fact that my village chose me as shrine maiden to live my life in isolation. The last time I saw my parents... when I was five and they were leaving me at the shrine after my training... they were so proud. If my parents loved the angels, then I should love them, too. That's what I believed. After all, they were willing to give up their only daughter for them." Koyuki tried not to sniffle and start crying, but she did, a little bit, at facing the grim reality.

Dororo wrapped his arms around her and hugged her. "It's all right to face reality. Sometimes reality isn't what you want. I wanted to kill Kululu, but it turned out he was untouchable," he shared. "But I thank you for all you've done, because standing by your post is what caused us to meet. It was honorable for you to stand by your post," he comforted. Koyuki held him tighter as she accepted his comfort.

"So... she won't lecture us on angels anymore?" Tamama hoped.

"I don't know," said Keroro.

"Let's get out of this cold, guys! I don't think I can stand being here any longer!" Fuyuki shivered. They all agreed to journey out of the cold and head somewhere else.

* * *

They headed back to the angel shrine, or nearer to the area. It was a many days' journey away, and those days of journey seemed to be filled up with Koyuki and Dororo's weird infatuation thing. They were almost always innocently flirting and complimenting each other.

"I love your hair," Dororo would tell her. "Honestly if you were an angel, I would paint your hair every day and make a shrine of drawings with them."

"Thank you?" Koyuki didn't know much about human customs either, just like Dororo, but she knew something was bad about his pick-up lines. "If we were on a date, I'd help you hunt down criminals and it would be great!" She tried a pick-up line of her own.

"Uhhh... thanks?" Was that a romantic date? Dororo didn't know.

They eventually just held hands as they walked, because they both felt like they probably sucked at pick-up lines and flirting. But at least they sucked together.

"Get a room you too! Or a bush far, far away!" Keroro teased from behind them, since their bodies took up the forest trail since they were walking right next to each other.

Koyuki was confused. "There's no rooms in the forest."

"Ugh. But you know what I mean. All your flirting is weird...B ut nice job, Dororo, finally making some moves." Keroro teased.

"Thank you. I am glad I am moving, too." Dororo didn't understand.

"This is so annoying. How can I prank them and tease him if he's so bad at this?" Keroro crossed his arms, super irritated.

"Hey. I think I have this little excursion the worst," Kululu pointed out. "Between yours and Tamama's flirting, and Dororo's and Koyuki's, I'm just awkwardly trapped in the middle with Fuyuki in disgust."

Keroro deadpanned. "Tamama isn't flirting. What are you talking about?"

Kululu laughed at his stupidity.

"What do you mean, you want to prank and tease me?" Dororo looked a bit worried.

"Because you're flirting so much with Koyuki!" Keroro yelled. Maybe a direct approach would get it in Dororo's head.

"Oh. Oh yes I am." Dororo smiled, proudly. He wasn't ashamed of his and Koyuki's relationship. What was there to be ashamed of? At least they were happy, healthy and beautiful. "It's better to do these things openly than ashamed and embarrassed and half-heartidly."

"Jealousy... Why does he get to be happy?" Tamama grinded his teeth together. "Maybe we could go on a double date together sometime! Koyuki and he, and Keroro and me! Since Keroro and he are friends!" Tamama tried to make the situation happier.

Fuyuki just thought about Momoka. This atmosphere reminded him of her. _I wonder what it would be like if she was here with me... I miss her so much,_ he realized.

The group continued onward.

* * *

Natsumi, several days ago, walked into the wrecked city. Smoke was coming from the crushed buildings, but no fires were happening.

None of it looked natural - the dead bodies that littered the streets, the shape the buildings were in, even the state the bodies were in, some of them crushed and flattened.

Giroro held Natsumi, who vomited all of the contents of her stomach several times. She had never seen a battlefield, and was unaccustomed to these sorts of horrors.

"Wh-what happened... This doesn't look natural..." Natsumi vomited again, as Giroro held her hair back and pat her back, helping her get it all out.

 _My poor Natsumi..._ He didn't want her to see this. This sort of thing only the most cold-hearted killers wouldn't be affected with.

He felt disgust bubble inside himself that he, too, wasn't vomiting with her, but of course, he was a cold-blooded killer who had experience with this sort of stuff.

"It looks like several grenades might have fallen from the sky onto this town. Or explosive substances. Perhaps someone planted a bomb. Actually, I'm not sure of the method used." Giroro tried to use his best guess. _No... The destruction couldn't come from the sky. There's only one thing that can fly, and those are the few Nishizawa jets. The Nishizawas might be stupid, but they wouldn't do something like this._ Most likely that meant that someone had planted several bombs.

"The demons must have done this. They must have seen my exorcisms and gotten revenge on humans. They're the only ones cold-blooded enough to do something so awful," Natsumi cried, instantly blaming it on the demons.

"Demons wouldn't have done something like this. We could risk harming our own," Giroro tried to explain. Natsumi shook her head, still collapsed on the ground.

"Only they're this heartless," Natsumi insisted. "They did this. They killed all these people." She wasn't listening to him.

Giroro frowned. "Let's look around, I'm sure we can find out what truthfully destroyed this town..." Giroro told her. Natsumi nodded, trying to be strong in the face of all the death.

* * *

"Why are there so many teenagers hung on walls?" Natsumi asked, noticing this fact. Giroro didn't know. All he saw under them was the bloody letters H.A.D.

 _What does H.A.D. mean?_ he wondered. Had some sort of society committed the atrocity against the town?

Eventually, Natsumi came upon a body tightly gripping a letter. She picked it up, hoping it would give her clues to the situation.

 _Please, whoever finds this letter, read it and warn humanity, and maybe my death will not be in vain._

 _My town was not destroyed by itself, although I'm sure the news is going to tell you it was. The news will say that we either destroyed ourselves in some sort of civil war trying to eradicate demons thanks to H.A.D. (Humans Against Demons) or that the demons destroyed us for our disobedience. It was neither._

Giroro breathed out a sigh of relief. At least Natsumi couldn't blame it on the demons now, could she? His relief was quickly extinguished up when he read the next line, though.

 _It was an angel. An angel entered our town and destroyed it. I know you won't believe me, but she did! I will soon die. I doubt she'll leave any survivors to tell of how she's returned, but please... Read my letter and warn humanity._

"This has to be a lie." It was Giroro who spoke up.

"You know what... It might not be." Natsumi thought for a moment. "I've always found it a bit suspicious how Kululu played mind games against the angels and they accidentally destroyed themselves. Maybe the demons were in cahoots with the angels all along, and now that things aren't going their way, they're letting them finally return to scare us into obedience," she speculated. "So... the people who killed this town _were_ the angels and demons!"

"That isn't true." Giroro spoke up against her. "The angels are long dead, trust me."

"You can't be one hundred percent sure of that. The Demon King might have lied to you - " Natsumi tried to reason with Giroro.

"I WAS THERE!" he reminded her. "This can't be true, because I literally saw all of them die. I was on the front lines of the battlefield that day. All of them dropped out of the sky like flies. We inspected the bodies to make sure they were extremely dead, and they were. I even saw Kululu crush the Messenger of Death myself. There is no way that they have returned."

"Well, then..." Natsumi tried to make sense of the letter. "Maybe it was a demon impersonating an angel? The demons are the only ones with supernatural powers, so it couldn't be a human..."

Giroro was silent. "I... I suppose." He saw another option, though. One he didn't want to share with Natsumi. _It might have been a do-gooding human posing as an angel, thinking they could make humans and demons friends again if the angels came back. The terrain looks like it was crushed from an explosion, so the powers from out of this world might just be a lie. This letter might have been planted by a human..._

 _But if I tell Natsumi that a human destroyed these people to be used as a symbol of evil to reunite humans and demons, Natsumi won't even trust her own race. She'll turn against them and she might even use her powers to become a dictator, a beneficial one in her mind, but still a dictator._

 _I can't let Natsumi go down even more of a wrong path. So... for now I've got to keep my suspicions to myself. After all, she can't hate demons anymore than she does now, right?_

Unsurprisingly, he was wrong.

* * *

Paul poured Momoka some tea, something that would calm her stomach so that he could give her the news of Phase Three.

Paul turned to Momoka. "I sent a news crew to the town nearby that has been destroyed."

"A town nearby has been destroyed?" Momoka was unaware of this. "How?"

"A lone operative from Phase Three was sent there to act as an angel. His mission was to destroy the town as an angel and leave a letter there explaining that an angel had attacked. It should show the people that our angels are returning, and that they have bigger things to focus on than a war between demons and angels."

Momoka dropped her teacup, and it shattered. "One of our soldiers... massacred an entire town?"

"With bombs, yes, and some special effects that the Nishizawa company has invented to look more supernatural," Paul told her. "There were... no survivors. If there was a survivor, it might be bad for us."

Momoka was shaking. Sending soldiers on suicide missions was one thing. They had volunteered! But her finger had pretty much been on the trigger of orders to massacre an entire town of innocents.

She wanted to vomit. "Why? Why did we have to destroy an entire town?"

"This town was the prime candidate for this. Do not worry, it will be the only one like it. It had destroyed all its teenagers, thanks to the H.A.D. movement, and was already having violence among its people. It wouldn't have survived very long, anyway. Also, it was the closest near here," Paul told her, trying to ease her spirit.

Momoka's spirit could not be put at ease. She may not have been there, but the person who ordered murder was still a murderer.

Paul handed her the letter. "I wrote it myself, but if you would like to read the copy of the letter we sent for evidence, you may."

Momoka took it. Remaining oblivious to her crimes was truly criminal. She had to stay involved. She tried not to empty her stomach as she read the letter.

 _Please, whoever finds this letter, read it and warn the humans I love and demons. Both humans and demons deserve to know the truth. Only then can my death mean something._

 _The truth is, my town was not destroyed by demons, which I'm sure a lot of you are going to say. No, it was something far worse than demons, a nightmare that we should not have forgotten._

 _It was an angel. An angel entered our town and destroyed it. He entered our town and killed my friends and family around me without any remorse. He was cruel, and evil, and bloodthirsty._

 _I will soon die from my wounds from the battle. I doubt he'll leave any survivors to tell of how he's returned, but please... Read my letter and warn humans and demons alike._

Momoka folded up the letter carefully, shivering from the contents of it. _I'm a killer... I did this so that this war could stop... But isn't sacrificing lives so that more will not be lost still evil?_

Momoka cried. Her finger _had_ been on the trigger. She had ordered this operation, and she knew she could not pull back.

"Keep me informed, Paul." She tried to sound calm, to not stutter. She was a heiress. She needed to act like one.

She would be punished for her sins after death. And if that was what kept Fuyuki alive, than so be it.

* * *

The group had started setting up camp for the night in a spot that didn't seem to polluted by monsters. Kululu and Koyuki were fighting over who was going to cook dinner, but everybody insisted that they didn't have any supplies for curry.

Kululu sounded offended. "Nonsense! There's always supplies for curry. Ku, ku, ku."

Honestly, Keroro didn't want to eat either of their foods.

" _You want to take a walk and look for some berries or something edible?_ " Saburo suggested.

"Sure," Keroro nodded. He didn't announce that he was going to take a walk, because then Tamama would have followed him. He just went off on his own.

* * *

Walking through the forest, Keroro stopped when he heard a voice. Turning to see a more meadow-like area, he saw the cutest, most beautiful and amazing hat he had ever seen, twirling around.

The girl the hat seemed to be attached to was of no importance compared to the hat's beauty. It looked fluffy, nice, and warm, and had these adorable little hat flaps.

"I must have that hat," he whispered to himself.

" _Hey, isn't it a bit weird for a girl to be alone this far into the forest? Not to mention... iIs she dancing?_ " Saburo asked, feeling a bit weirded out.

Indeed, the weird girl was dancing as if she didn't care what kind of danger she would put her lovely hat in! It was so lovely, covering most of her head. He could see the back of her short silver hair under it, but the hat itself looked so warm and nice.

"Someday my prince will come~!" the girl sung as she twirled around like a Disney princess. She clearly had no idea how much danger she could put that hat in.

Honestly, Keroro was surprised that she hadn't been eaten by a monster yet. In fact, no animals whatsoever seemed to be near her at all.

"She doesn't deserve that hat if she's going to be dancing around pointlessly like that. She'll be eaten and that hat will go with her!" Keroro whispered to himself.

" _Why don't we go smooth-talk her out of it, then?_ " Saburo suggested. " _Back when I was the hero of the world, I used to be quite popular with the ladies. I'm sure I could give you some pointers, and then that hat will be yours._ "

Keroro smiled. He pushed through the brush and showed himself to the dancing girl.

"Eeep!" She pulled on her ear flaps to cover more of her head, almost shyly as she saw Keroro appear before her.

"Hello, fair maiden." He bowed, trying to be suave. "What are you doing in this forest? And alone, might I ask?"

"I... I was heading somewhere." She admitted, shyly. Nobody had called her a 'fair maiden' before. Was this just like some fairy tale?

"Where?" Keroro asked.

"Well, I was... uhhh, going to the site of the Ancient War. I heard that artifacts from millennia before could be located there." She twiddled her fingers, looking at the ground.

"Oh. You an archeologist? You seem a bit young to be one," Keroro noted. She looked about sixteen, maybe seventeen or eighteen, he didn't know, just that she looked like a late teenager. She looked like she would either just be finishing her possession, or she would have already finished it.

She smiled and pointed her finger in the air. "You could say, you can teach a young dog old-people tricks?"

"Uhhh... that is definitely not how the saying goes. That was actually the worst mangling I've ever heard." Keroro giggled a bit. The girl seemed disappointed. "It was funny, though! Don't worry, I love funny people!"

"L-love?" She blushed and covered her cheeks.

"Anyway, you shouldn't be out here alone in this forest. It's dangerous. What town were you at recently? You should head back there," Keroro suggested.

"What? The forest is dangerous?" She didn't seem to know this and looked quite confused. "I was at Lichte."

Keroro remembered that name. It had been the destroyed town that they had come across, with the tanned teenager's body hung on a rock. The girl in front of him must have escaped from that city before it was destroyed.

"So you're running from all that civil war stuff?" Keroro asked curiously.

"What civil war stuff? That's a thing?" The girl tilted her head to the side, confused again.

"What kind of rock do you live under? Of course it's a thing! People are trying to kill each other to eliminate possible demons in their bodies!" Keroro was irritated by how ignorant this girl was.

"What? Really?" The girl looked so surprised. "I had no idea! I should probably head home and tell everybody about what's happening, then!" She smiled, as if her life had been saved.

Keroro wanted to strangle something over how dim-witted this girl was.

" _This is good. She'll probably be stupid enough to give you her hat,_ " Saburo told him. Keroro let himself calm down.

He bent down and kissed her hand, like she was a princess. "It's really amazing, the chance meeting we had, isn't it? It's almost like fate... I'm glad I could warn you about danger and send you home," he told her.

The girl blushed at the feeling of his lips against her hand. "But if you're glad to send me home... Then won't we never meet again?"

"No, it's fate that we'll see each other again. In fact, we should share a parting gift to link us. Lend me something of yours so that I can give it back to you when I see you again, and then our hearts will be forever linked by your gift." Keroro tried to smooth-talk as best he could.

Luckily, it was one-hundred percent successful to the girl. She beamed. "What would best link us...?"

"Something that you don't need," Keroro pretended. "You look like such a princess, and your hair is so beautiful, so how about we use your hat?"

Before she could say no, he snatched the beautiful hat off her head. She gasped and quickly covered her forehead with her hand, as if she was sick. She looked away, almost shyly.

"There's nothing to fear, Miss Princess. After all, we'll meet again." He went over-the-top. The actor in him demanded that he do so.

After redoing her hair so that she could face him again and her bangs were covering her forehead, she looked at him, and closed her eyes, as if her parting gift from him would be a kiss.

Keroro pat her head like she was a child. "Now, why don't you go to a safer town than your home? The town you came from is destroyed, after all."

"My home wasn't that town," she explained. "It was a different one. I'll go home to that one."

Keroro smiled. All he needed now was to never visit any other towns in the area and never see her again. It was clear she had become quite smitten with him.

"Good-bye, my fair princess!" he waved, slowly dancing backward into the bushes.

"Good-bye, my demon prince!" the girl called after him. "You could say, love at first sight?"

After hearing that, Keroro ran. Ran the heck away from there.

" _How the heck did she know you were a demon? I look seventeen, so I shouldn't be possessed by a demon._ " Saburo was very confused.

"I don't know how she found me out, but this could be dangerous. She could tell Natsumi where I am. Better tell the others that someone spotted us and that we've got to pack up and leave," Keroro decided.

So Saburo and Keroro ran back to camp.

* * *

"Nice hat, Mr. Keroro!" Tamama complimented. Keroro smiled. He liked compliments about his new hat.

"I ran into a girl on my walk," he confessed. "She found out I was a demon and might tell Natsumi where we are. We should probably pack up and leave."

"Ku. Idiot. Shouldn't have gone on any walks and talked to anyone," Kululu scolded. But he was anxious to get away from someone who might give their location away, too.

So the group packed up and left.

* * *

The group fled in the opposite direction of where Keroro had found the weird girl. They could not take any chances.

Kululu scolded him a lot for ruining their cover, all for a hat.

"But I love this hat!" Keroro declared. Nobody cared.

To their stupidity, though, going in the opposite direction of the girl was pretty much going in the direction Natsumi was headed, and the two forces eventually found each other.

"Finally!" Natsumi yelled as soon as she saw Kululu and he stepped out into a clearing. She put out her staff, ready to attack. "I can finally exorcise you! For my brother and for all those people you probably killed in the town I was just in!"

"Sis, stop! You don't need to kill him! Killing people is wrong!" Fuyuki yelled at her. Kululu quickly took control of the body to face her instead. He glared at her.

"You know what's also wrong? Stealing." He frowned. "Ku, ku, ku. That staff isn't yours and wasn't meant for you to wield it."

Natsumi noticed Koyuki in the background, who waved.

Giroro bit his lip. Natsumi could definitely, and easily, exorcise Kululu with her powers. So that meant Keroro and Dororo were done for soon, too. He made a motion that they should run to the side and try to run away. He didn't know who the red-haired demon with them was.

"It's better in my hands than gathering dust in some shrine. It's mine now," Natsumi told him. She rushed forward at her full speed to tap his chest and exorcise him.

Kululu waited for her to come to him, and as soon as she was close enough, he grabbed her wrist and twisted it with all his strength, using some of his demon powers to electrocute her veins.

"AHHHH!" Natsumi screamed, but held onto her staff.

Fuyuki covered his ears. He could feel horns about to split out of his head, signaling Kululu's growing anger.

" _You don't need them!_ " he tried to tell him. " _Natsumi is human!_ "

Kululu did not grow horns. "You're right. I don't need my endless demonic powers to beat her. After all, she's so weak," he mocked. "Ku, ku, ku."

Natsumi glared at him, commanding her body to move. "You won't think that when you're dead." She tried to hit him with the staff, to knock him out momentarily.

Kululu just grabbed the staff and spoke some words. "Akez cleh trem."

" _Was that the angel language?_ " Fuyuki was impressed, honestly.

Suddenly, Natsumi's staff started shrinking, getting smaller and smaller until it finally transformed into a pocket watch. Natsumi held it tightly.

"Wh-what... What happened to it?" She jumped backward so Kululu couldn't zap her with oncoming lightning.

"I compacted it. Ku. Did you not know that the staff could be compacted into travel size? Now it tells time. Very useful. It's neat-looking, too. Ku, ku, ku." Kululu laughed at her weapon being ruined. "It was stupid of you to think you could wield it properly. You didn't even know how to use it! You were only using it at one percent of its natural ability."

"I was on the war front and I didn't know any angel staffs could be compacted either, honestly." Giroro tried to make Natsumi feel better.

"Me neither," Keroro agreed.

"Same," Dororo nodded. This hadn't been common knowledge.

"I saw it!" Tamama smiled giddily. The demons looked at Tamama, jealous that he was more knowledgeable about this than them.

"One percent of its natural ability?" Natsumi asked, confused. She thought she had been quite good with it! She looked at the pocket watch. It still had a chain, meaning she could still use it as a weapon, swinging it around to hit him.

She swung with all her power at Kululu's head.

Kululu easily caught it. "You are nothing with it. I fought the original owner of this staff, and she used it _so_ much better." With a flick of his finger, he pulled the pocket watch's chain from Natsumi's hand and now had it.

"Th-the original owner?" Natsumi asked. She had only heard of Kululu fighting one angel personally.

Kululu grinned. "The Messenger of Death."

 _I was using the Messenger of Death's staff!_ Natsumi realized, horrified.

Kululu tucked the pocket watch into Fuyuki's pocket. "Now for your punishment for pretty much grave-robbing. Ku, ku, ku." A bolt of electricity flew down from the sky, striking Natsumi. She fell to the ground.

Kululu approached her, took out the staff, and made it bigger. "Be destroyed by the staff you tried to make your own, pitiful human."

" _No! No, don't kill my sister!_ " Fuyuki screeched.

Kululu was about to plunge the staff into Natsumi's back when Giroro leaped forward, scooped up Natsumi's body into his arms, and jumped away.

"Do not dare try to lay a finger on Natsumi, Demon King. Because if you do, I will chase you down with an arsenal of weapons. I don't know how many bullets you can survive, but I'd find out," he hissed. He then ran off to nurse Natsumi back to health.

Fuyuki forced Kululu to remain and not chase after Natsumi. Kululu sighed when a few minutes had passed and she was clearly gone.

"Can... I have the staff back, now?" Koyuki asked, seeing Kululu compacting the staff again. "I mean, it belongs in the angel shrine..."

"Your ancestors grave-robbed it too. They stole it from the war site. It's safest in my possession, because I am the Demon King. Ku, ku, ku. Not in some stupid human's possession. So I'm going to keep it," Kululu told her.

Koyuki looked sad. Keroro and Dororo nodded, agreeing with Kululu.

"Kululu will make sure no other humans use it to kill people," Fuyuki told her. "So I agree with him that it's best in his hands. He knows the most about it, and its dangers."

"Ummm... why don't we just destroy it so that it can't be used against anyone?" Tamama questioned, keeping it real. "That makes a lot of sense to me."

Nobody heard Tamama's suggestion.

* * *

 _I guess Kululu wasn't really interested in Natsumi. I really did read that wrong. After all, he tried to kill her._ Giroro's love triangle he invented finally ended in his head.

Natsumi groaned as she groggily woke up on the bed of leaves and moss Giroro had made for her.

"My staff..." she murmured.

Giroro shushed her. "Is gone. Kululu took it."

"But... what will I do without my staff? I was the symbol to the people because I could safely exorcise these demons... Now I can't." She looked so sad.

"It wasn't the staff that made you who you are, Natsumi. It's you," Giroro comforted. Secretly, he was pleased. _Without that staff, she can't kill Dororo and Keroro now!_

"You're right," Natsumi agreed after thinking. "I need to start doing new things to eliminate the demons. Stuff that I can do on my own... I'm going to have to just straight-up eliminate Keroro and Dororo and the rest of the demons. I'll have to think strategically, lead the people not as a symbol, but as a war general. After all, humanity and demons have come to the point where this is war." She looked serious.

"Wh-what about Fuyuki?" Giroro asked. She couldn't really mean to kill the demons. She knew how that would go!

"I'll have to trap him somehow and bring him to the Nishizawas. Hopefully, they can figure out a way to exorcise Kululu out of Fuyuki with their advanced technology. I know Momoka wouldn't give up on him, and anyway, if the angels could do it, I'm sure we could emulate their technology somehow. I know it's possible now," Natsumi declared. "I'll go back home and rally an army. We'll take those demons out once and for all!" she declared.

Giroro just watched, horrified. What Natsumi was talking about was murder and war, and although she knew she was only being drastic to save her brother and was willing to murder a thousand times for him, she didn't realize that Giroro was the part of the group she planned to murder.

And Giroro's brother was a demon, too. She didn't realize that these demons had families and lives and people they cared about. They were as real as humans.

And although Giroro loved Natsumi and understood her feelings, he didn't know if he could stand with her on this war. After all, he was a demon. Would that be betraying his own side?

He didn't know.

* * *

 **Please review!**


	18. How I Won the War: Part 1

**Sorry it's so long. I got a bit carried away.**

* * *

 _The Messenger of Death's staff…. I can't believe that was the Messenger of Death's staff…!_

Natsumi shivered, Kululu's words trapped in her head. Perhaps she really _hadn't_ known what she was playing around with, seeing as that was the artifact the Messenger of Death herself was going to use to kill all the humans.

 _I can't keep doing risky things like this. I couldn't have been the symbol of the revolution when I used the same device that was going to bring about our destruction ten thousand years ago_ , she told herself.

Her new plan was much more practical. She wasn't going to stay attached to that staff any longer—now it was just her, just Natsumi Hinata, and an army of humans, leading a war against demons.

She was going to do this her own way. She never needed that staff in the first place.

* * *

Everyone in the group was severely uneasy at the prospect of Kululu having the Messenger of Death's weapon on them, but none more so than Tamama.

"Why are we trusting the big jerk with the weapon of mass destruction?" he argued. "The thing that could kill us all! I bet he's planning our deaths while we're sleeping!"

Keroro nodded to agree, but since demons didn't require sleep, he had been staying up, trying to sort through Kululu and Fuyuki's things to find out where Kululu was hiding the pocketwatch. He still hadn't found it yet. Tamama and Dororo, on the other hand, since they had made the foolish decision to become mortal, were now finding out just how necessary a full eight hours of sleep was to their mortal bodies. Tamama actually took advantage of it, always using his sleepiness as an excuse to cuddle up to Keroro. Keroro wasn't so sure why he kept doing it.

"I actually don't think Kululu should be trusted with it, either," he finally agreed.

"Well, what should we do, then?" Tamama wondered. "I suggest we jump him, take the pocketwatch, and then smash it with a hammer!"

Keroro shook his head. "We didn't bring any hammers."

"Um…. Then, how about we toss it into the ocean?"

"Yeah!" Keroro smiled. "We could definitely do that. It'd sink to the bottom and probably get crushed by a rock or eaten by some giant fish. And then nobody would ever have to worry about it again."

Tamama laughed maniacally. At last, the first step in his journey for revenge against the Demon King would be enacted.

When the sun went down and the mosquitoes came out, Tamama and Keroro used the darkness as their cover. They hid amongst the trees and watched Kululu. He was sitting on a log, playing with the pocketwatch as he dangled it. Dororo and Koyuki, along with Zeroyasha, were nowhere in sight. Tamama guessed they were off together, smooching somewhere, minus the dog. It only made sense. He saw all the flirting going on between them; he wasn't blind.

"For the super genius Demon King, he isn't so bright," Keroro whispered. "He's just playing with that thing out in the open. Like he doesn't expect us at all to come take it from him!" This would be easier than they thought.

"Okay… ready?" said Tamama. Keroro nodded. "GO!"

At the same time, they sprung out from the trees and jumped on Kululu's back. The pocketwatch was thrown from his hand and fell on the ground. In Kululu's shock at someone jumping him, his horns burst out of Fuyuki's head and swatted Keroro and Tamama away with such great force that they were flung halfway across the forest.

" _Wh-What was that?_ " Fuyuki wondered.

"I dunno. Koala maybe?" Kululu joked as he got to his feet. They both knew koalas went extinct long ago. He picked up the watch and slipped it in Fuyuki's chest pocket. No, he knew that it was Keroro and Tamama. They wanted the staff, Tamama especially, so that they could kill him. He wasn't ready to die. He was too attractive. Perhaps Keroro saw that as competition.

Fuyuki just groaned, his head in pain from Kululu's fancy horn maneuver.

* * *

When Keroro came to, he found himself in the trees, not walking through them or anything, but literally _in_ a bed of branches.

He moaned and tried to sit up. _Thank god for this dense forest,_ he thought, _because without it, I might have cracked Saburo's skull open!_ He scratched his head. "Well, sorry that didn't work out, Tamama. Maybe next time we'll have a better shot. Maybe we could try betting him over a game?" he suggested. However, he got no response. "Um… Tamama?"

He tried to look around for Tamama, but he couldn't see anything in all this darkness. Eventually, as his senses adjusted to the nightly sounds, he heard faint weeping, coming from below him.

Keroro peered down reluctantly, afraid of what he might see. Tamama lay on his side on the forest floor, crying. His ankle was twisted in a painful, awkward position that made Keroro wince just by looking at it. His eyes widened at the condition Tamama was in.

"Tamama!" he yelled. Quickly, he made his way down the trees and onto the ground, where he scooped up Tamama in his arms. "Don't die! If you die, who will shower me in unconditional attention?"

He expected at least a little bit of a laugh from Tamama, but Tamama just continued to cry.

"I… I almost had it," he wailed. "With that staff I could have killed him. And then I would have destroyed the last bit of memory of the Messenger Death on this world. It would have been a win-win! But he's too strong…. He's always too strong."

Keroro sighed, a bit relieved that Tamama wasn't sobbing about his broken ankle, and instead about the failure of their revenge plan.

"Why don't you get yourself, comfy, Tamama. We're going to be here for awhile," Keroro suggested. He sat him against the trunk of a tree and took off his cloak, which he folded in a pillow and used to prop up Tamama's ankle. "I have no idea where the rest of the group is, and we'd probably get lost going by my sense of direction." He stuck his tongue out, trying to be silly to make Tamama laugh.

Tamama didn't. He just stared off into space sadly.

"So… you knew that the staff could turn into a pocketwatch?" Keroro asked, trying desperately to make conversation. "How come?"

"I don't really want to talk about it," Tamama said with a bit of a snarl. "That Messenger of Death is almost as bad as the Demon King. So I'd rather not think about either of them."

"Okay," said Keroro, respecting his boundaries.

"All right, fine! I'll tell you!" Tamama finally gave in. "I saw the Messenger of Death a lot, before she escaped from being a prisoner."

Keroro's jaw dropped. "You had to _meet_ her?"

"Yes. And if you think there's anything more fat and obnoxious than her, you'd be wrong." Tamama grimaced. "Sometimes I almost wish she _would_ take out my soul, so I wouldn't have to deal with her anymore."

He started reminiscing on all the things he hated about her.

* * *

Tamama hung over the cage of the Messenger of Death, jeering at her.

"Bet it feels nice to be a spectacle of the demon society, huh?" he mocked. "Well, you're going to have a lot of fun in your little prison! You'll be bored, and you'll have to eat dirt, and sit on rocks, because angels are evil! And Kululu is going to torture you until you give up all the angels' secrets, and you'll be trauma-ed forever, because that's what he does as the Demon King!"

The Messenger of Death just laughed.

"WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT?!" Tamama demanded, his pupils shrinking.

"I just realized how cute your little horns are!" she said. "Tiny sparks come out from them whenever you yell."

"BET YOU WOULDN'T THINK THEY'RE SO CUTE AFTER I BLOW YOU UP WITH THEM!"

She put a hand to her mouth and gasped. "That wouldn't be very nice!"

Tamama growled. She was so dumb! He'd never met anyone nearly as stupid.

"Kululu's gonna kill you when he comes back!" he taunted her. "He's gonna kill you until you're dead!"

"That doesn't make any sense," she said. "Wouldn't I already be dead the first time he kills me?"

"You know what I mean!"

"Unless demons have some sort of way to keep you on the brink of life," she speculated. "Some torture mechanism that they use to kill you over and over…. Well, it doesn't seem very practical, but I'll give it a bit of thought. Thank you for warning me, Tamama!" She smiled and waved at him. "You've been the greatest pal to me these past few months."

"RGRAAARGH," he screamed.

"Bless you," she said, mistaking his cry of anguish as a sneeze. "Oh, you're leaving? That's okay. It's been great talking with you! I hope you'll come and talk to me again tomorrow."

* * *

"And then her neck extended through the bars of her prison and she tried to bite my legs off," Tamama made up.

Keroro just gave him a weird look, having heard the earlier parts of the story. " _That's_ what the Messenger of Death was like?" His entire perception of her had changed completely. "That's just too weird." Then something hit him. "Does she even have a name?"

"A name?" asked Tamama. "Yes indeed she did. And it was the most fearsome name among the angels. Her name… was THAT WOMAN!"

"Um… okay." Keroro didn't really understand why a parent would ever give that name to their kid. Maybe it was an angel thing. "So… what about Kululu? What did he do to make you hate _him_? Tell me about that."

Tamama huffed out a sigh. "That, Mr. Keroro, is a much longer story."

* * *

When Dororo and Koyuki came back with Zeroyasha, they set down their bags and looked around. "Um… where did Saburo and Tamama go?" asked Koyuki.

"No clue." Kululu was tending to the fire. "They're probably out gathering food—edible food, that is. Ku ku ku!"

Koyuki glared daggers at him. "We really should have let Natsumi exorcise you."

"Me? But where would the demons be without their king?" he asked, feigning hurt.

Dororo and her just rolled their eyes at him. "Remind me again why he gets to keep the angel staff?" Koyuki whispered.

"I'm the Demon King!" Kululu answered for her. "I think I deserve to keep it in safe hands."

"And he won the war for us," Fuyuki cut in, taking over.

Koyuki frowned slightly. "I don't know. Since I've been an angel worshipper most of my life, that's still hard to accept. And knowing _him_ , that makes it even harder."

"The angels would have killed all of the humans," Fuyuki said back. "Look, I know he's a jerk and all, but at least he saved us. Right, Kululu?"

" _…Right_ ," Kululu agreed.

"Tell them that."

"Right," Kululu said out loud. "I did win the war. Therefore you have no right to hate me and _I_ should be the one you are worshipping, ku ku ku!"

Koyuki gave him one of her stubborn looks. "Just how _did_ you win the war, Demon King?"

Dororo gasped. "Koyuki—"

"No, Dororo. I want to hear the full story." She looked at him. "I _need_ to hear the full story."

"Um… of course," said Kululu. Fuyuki detected a hint of reluctance in his voice. "Let's see, where to begin? Ku ku ku. Gosh, there's so much to cover…."

"Why don't you just start at the beginning," she suggested.

"The beginning? All right." Kululu cleared his throat. "Well, first you have to know that this was a very prosperous era for us demons. Nearly every single one of us had bodies on the human plane."

" _So… you all killed people for those bodies?_ " Fuyuki translated.

"Yes. I suppose you could put it like Fuyuki did—we demons have to kill our hosts in order to take their bodies." Kululu had no qualms of telling this to Koyuki. She was just an angel worshipper. And it wasn't like Natsumi wasn't already spreading around this information and breaking the delicate Nishizawa contract. Not that he ever liked that contract, anyway. "Now you have to know that this was before the Nishizawa contract. So the humans all knew about the Demon Fight, how we killed them and all that. The humans were also able to tell which of us were demons, because once we took a host body, we could shape it to our image back on the demon realm, genetics and all. Of course, that also meant if you killed a demon in the human realm, they would just go back to the demon realm, but… angels could hop dimensions. Ku ku ku."

"Yes, but why did the angels want to kill demons and humans in the first place?" she pressed.

Kululu sweated. The angels, in truth, had actually been planning to cut off the demons' food source, human souls. And the only reason angels wanted the demons dead in the first place was because of what Kululu did—he encouraged demons to take human hosts more than necessary, often deliberately getting themselves killed just so that they could get a new host.

"The angels saw us demons as sinful creatures," he explained. It was true, but not completely. "After all, we must kill our host in order to eat. But that is the nature of our species. It cannot be helped. We are simply the predators, and the humans are the prey. Ku ku ku. And they despised humans because of their pride, their pompousness, their pretentiousness, their ignorance…."

"Humans aren't like that anymore," Koyuki tried to tell him.

"You'd be surprised," he muttered. "Anyway, in the first few years of the war, before demons really started communicating with the humans, we simply battled the angels blindly, not quite knowing why, except to defend ourselves against a species that wanted to eliminate us just because they thought we were sinful. Ku ku ku! Biased little creatures. I don't know _what_ they would have done without me."

* * *

Kululu figured that he must have been the worst Demon King in history. Granted, that wasn't a very long history of Demon Kings, but point of the matter was, he still stunk.

Many of his soldiers had come back bearing horrible news—the small army they had sent out to battle the Angyls, the branch of angels that breathed poison through their triple heads, had not returned from the battlefield. It was grave news to hear, but Kululu had to accept the fact that perhaps sending out the close-range demon warriors to battle poisonous angels perhaps wasn't the best idea.

"All right. Any word from the branch I sent to spy on the angels?" he wondered.

"Well…" One of his messengers cast his glance to the floor. "They took the hidden forest path, as you instructed… but then an Angul assaulted them in the dark and hung their bodies through the branches."

"I heard it was fifty Anguls," said another messenger.

"Really? I heard that it was all the same one!"

Kululu just groaned. Of course his spies wouldn't have stood a chance against tall, skeletal, teleporting creatures like the Anguls. He had completely forgotten to take into account how the forests were _their_ domain.

"Anything else?" he wanted to know.

"Well… there's also about 100 or so Angils gathered around this stronghold with their armor and weaponry," a messenger told him.

"WHAT?! You could have told me that first!" Kululu internally freaked out. He had no idea what to do! If all his warriors were missing and gone, he had no one else to count on in the stronghold except for the messengers. And they had other places to be at the moment. "I—I…. You are dismissed." He needed some alone-time to think.

When the messengers left the room, he heard one of them say, "Wish his father was here instead."

Another responded, "Yeah. Some Demon King this one is. Doesn't even know how to lead a war. All he does is stay cooped up in that room of his."

"If he actually saw the carnage out there, he wouldn't be the same person afterward," said another.

"Haha, yeah. Also his haircut is really lame."

Their voices faded, but Kululu began to pale, his fingers trembling. He really _was_ the worst Demon King. And also had a bad haircut.

And everyone, whether they said it to his face or not, secretly knew that.

* * *

"I always heard that the first few years of the war were brutal," Fuyuki spoke up, trying to join the conversation. "So… um… were they?

"Yes, admittedly," Kululu said. "But then we starting communicating with the humans, and they agreed to start aiding us. Ku ku ku. That was after the first four years of the war. It was still odd to see a demon out in public, mingling with the humans, so if you wanted to go out, you really had to keep your cover."

"But… why would the demons go out and mingle with the humans if they were in the middle of a war?" Koyuki asked.

Kululu didn't answer her. He changed the subject. "That was also around the time people started hearing news of the Messenger of Death. Kuu, ku ku ku. Oh, there were lots of scary stories about that one. How she murdered in cold blood… how she had no mercy for any of the species she eliminated… how she did it all for fun."

Koyuki paled. "The Messenger of Death… did all that?"

"Yes," Kululu nodded, enjoying the look of fear on Koyuki's face. "That's right."

* * *

It was kind of true. But what Kululu didn't know about the Messenger of Death was how other angels perceived her.

"She's a cold-blooded killer, that girl," they said amongst each other. "Did you see how she killed the moon spirits that live in bamboo? Merciless! And today she's going after the mermaids!"

"Why?" another angel asked. "Why does she do the things that she does?"

"She does it for fun. Don't you know?" said another. "She's from that three-eyed family, so naturally it's their job to judge and destroy so many races like that and destroy lands. But she's the only one who actually enjoys it—often she doesn't even judge them first."

"That's terrifying," said the first angel. "She ought to have more responsibility and dignity. We were gifted with these abilities for holy duties, not for _fun_."

"Who cares," said the second. "When the time comes to kill the Demon King, she can be the one to do it."

"Good. You know, I've heard things about him." One of them shivered. "All I can say is he could make a _clam_ seem just as divine as us."

"She can be the one to deal with him," they decided. "She was probably going to get to him eventually. Goodness, she's like a—like a _messenger of death_ or something."

They all laughed at this.

However, that derogatory nickname they gave her, the "messenger of death," happened to percolate through the grapevine down to the humans. And, as rumors spread, legends quickly arose of this deadly, merciless Messenger of Death the angels had appointed that was going to drop down from the heavens and slit the Demon King's throat for nothing more than bloodlust's sake. The stories quickly spread to the demons, and eventually, to even Kululu.

"Ku. The Messenger of Death?" Kululu asked his advisor, Garuru. He was still brimming with confidence after winning over the humans' aid, and constantly flaunting his pride at the ordeal. "What is this, some kind of joke? No one's going to come and slit my throat. Everyone loves me."

It was true at the moment, or at least he thought so. The humans were currently hailing the Demon King Kululu as their temporary savior for passing along the (incredibly false) information that the angels were bloodthirsty creatures who wanted their livers.

"I wouldn't be so sure, Kululu. A lot of people want to kill you," Garuru informed him, he being one of them. "What if she really did come for you? How would you defend yourself?"

"Um, with my amazing Demon King powers, duh?" Kululu gave him an obvious look and walked off his throne. "No Messenger of Death is going to fry _my_ buns. Not the Demon King's. Kuu, ku ku ku ku ku!"

Garuru just rolled his eyes. Maybe him getting assassinated would be for the better. "She can suck your soul out with her staff," he told him. "You wouldn't have time to play any of your psychological mind games or electrocute her. You'd be done for."

"Funny that you think that." Kululu smirked.

"Really." Garuru handed forward a piece of paper. "This message is from the angels. They say the Messenger of Death wants to meet you, Kululu, over in the Clian human town. In a month."

"Oh." Kululu took the note. He thought a moment. "Guess I'll pop her a visit, then. Might as well get it over with."

"So you admit you're done for?"

"Me?" Kululu laughed at this prospect. "No, I meant _her_!"

* * *

"Naturally, when I found out that I was going to meet the Messenger of Death," Kululu said to Koyuki, Dororo, and Fuyuki, "I went to the tech fair at once, to gather ideas for weapons to trap her."

" _Tech fair…_ " said Fuyuki. " _Kululu, didn't you tell me once that you met your wife at a tech fair?_ "

Kululu was silent a moment. "That was a different tech fair, Fuyuki."

"What?" asked Dororo.

Kululu clamped his hand over his mouth. He didn't realized he'd said that out loud. "Anyway… what I meant was I sent my soldiers to a tech fair to look for weaponry. Yeah."

He made up a bunch of details about that instead, leaving them completely in the dark about what had actually happened.

* * *

The war had been going smoothly till Kululu went to the tech fair. Then things took a left turn. Really, it had all started at the tech fair.

"Weapons…. Weapons…." Kululu muttered to himself. He wandered past booths and stalls, looking desperately for something that might interest him. Weapons, traps, explosives, the like. None of it would be for himself, of course—he was 100% confident he could take the Messenger of Death without any tools—rather, this arsenal would be for his armies, to better them. After all, it was obvious that it were the armies that were lacking, not the Demon King himself. Either that, or perhaps he was a bit _too_ overconfident in winning over the humans' favor.

One thing he _could_ be confident in, however, was critique people's inventions.

"It sucks," he told someone. "Why would you make a gun that you need to _wind_? You wouldn't have time to shoot down angels if you wound it."

"B-but it shoots a really long range," the person at the booth insisted. "It could take down the angels easily! Watch." He shot a bird out of the sky.

"Even a pump would work better than YOUR idea!" Kululu said. "When all us humans die at the hands of the angels, it'll be all your fault. Ku ku ku!"

The booth manager ran away crying.

Kululu smirked and took the booth for himself now that the other guy was gone. He was wearing a fake set of headphones over his horns so no one could tell that he was a demon, and it always had hilarious results. Everyone thought he was just some big jerk instead of the powerful Demon King. This was a good town, he decided. Since it was a town created for the humans, from the humans, practically no one knew much of the Demon King here, so he could have as much fun as he wanted. Most of the other human towns in the country were either created by demons or angels, and everyone in the demon-originating towns all knew his name.

Kululu dismembered the winding weapon and spread all the pieces out on the booth table, wondering what new creation he could make from the tiny parts. He wanted to go for a weapon of some sort, but his hands moved on his own. What he started to make was not a weapon.

After about an hour of tinkering with the small springs and gears, he realized there was someone there. _Has the booth manager stopped crying his head off finally?_ he wondered. He looked up to see someone leaning over the table of the booth, watching intently. But it was not the booth manager. Instead it was someone who looked around his physical age, wearing in a hat and cape.

"Do you need something?" he asked her, irked at her nosiness.

She gave him an honest smile. "No. I'm just watching."

It took Kululu a second or two to decipher what she had said, due to her thick Gellish accent. Gellish speakers, the first language of the angels, was the language for all the humans who lived in angel-originating towns, just like Monese was the language for all the humans who lived in demon-originating towns. Kululu spoke Monese, like all the demons, but after living so many years his accent had vanished for when he spoke the regular human language. But this girl's accent… so cringe worthy!

"Wow. Ku ku ku. You come from one of the angel-originating towns? Lame. You know the angels are trying to kill us humans, right kid?" he asked her.

"Um… what?" she looked surprised. "I didn't hear this."

"It's true," he said. "The Demon King said so himself."

"Who is the Demon King?"

A vein popped in his forehead. This girl didn't know who the Demon King was?! Unacceptable! He almost wanted to take off his headphones and teach her right that second. Everyone ought to know who he was, after all. But he kept his cool and went back to working on his creation.

"Watcha making?" the girl asked curiously, leaning even closer into his personal space bubble.

"Top-secret," he replied with a smirk. She may not have known who he was, but at least she looked interested in what he was doing. "But if you really want to know, it—"

"—tells time?" she finished.

"Well… yeah, actually." He snapped the contraption, the pocketwatch, closed. "You can—"

"Aww! So pretty!" She snatched it from his hand and started examining it. "You made it so quick, though. How does it work?"

Kululu opened it up for her so she could see the watch face. "You have to wind the crown at the top for it to start."

"Ah. And, what time is it set to?"

"Well… the current time. Only problem is, when it stops, you'll probably have to rewind it. Ku ku ku. Wish I had some copper on me to fix that." He sat back, waiting to see her reaction at his cool invention.

Her face twisted into a frown. "Hmmm… I don't think that is the problem."

"Ku? So there _is_ a problem?" He sat forward. Whatever this human had to say about the Demon King's invention, he was ready to hear it.

She leaned down for a second. Kululu was confused at what she was doing until she brought up a very large rock and smashed the pocketwatch to pieces. Kululu gaped as all the parts, and all of his hard work—as if in slow motion—came undone: The strings, bearing, gears, screws, _everything_.

He clutched his head. "Wha—what did you do _that_ for?"

"Well…" On the table, she began to reassemble the pocketwatch in almost the same manner that she had seen Kululu do, but with slight changes. As she rebuild it, she explained. "…depending on if you're using a sidereal or synodic period as your base of judgment for these timepieces, you're going to have to set the watches accordingly. Right now you are using a sidereal mode of rotation as your reference material—in other words the watches will automatically reset in 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4.1 seconds—but I think you fail to realize that, while the sidereal mode of judging time may be a bit more accurate astronomically, who would use it besides me? The average person can only think in a synodic mode of telling time. Because when it comes to telling time, it is more vital to know the planet's position in respect to the sun, rather than in respect to the stars. You really shouldn't confuse the rotation period of the planet with the length of its day!"

He cut in. "But—"

She took a breath and continued. "And also considering that the length of days increase by about 1.7 milliseconds each century, and that the eccentricity and inclination of the planet's orbit changes over the millennia, and that the days shorten and lengthen by the seasonal equinoxes of each year, it's nearly impossible to neglect the fact these watches will all be useless in the future. You need a mechanism for resetting them." Finished with her update on the pocketwatch, she handed it back to him. "There. Now you should be able to use the crown to also reset the time and date, not just wind it."

Kululu was speechless. His mouth was still open. "How—How did—What?"

"Everything needs a reset mechanism," she told him. "I saw the problem with your clock instantly. You could say, hit the hammer with the nail?"

Kululu chuckled. "That's… definitely _not_ how the saying goes." Needless to say, he was quite a bit impressed. Could it be? Yes. This human was possibly more nerdy than even he. "Great explanation and all, but… did you really need to smash it with a rock?"

She gave him her most innocent, loving smile. "Yes."

Kululu just gawked at her, dumbfounded. This girl stunned him. "So… what did you say your name was?"

"Oh." She bowed. "It's Mois! You could say, treat me well?"

* * *

She came to the tech fair the next day, too.

"Hi, Kululu!" Mois waved and ran up to him like they were already best friends or something. "Look what I made!" She held up a pocketwatch of her own for him to see, with a slightly different design than the one he made yesterday.

"Wow… um… you must have a good memory," he told her.

"I just adore these little clocks so much." She held it to her ear. "Its ticking sounds just like a little heartbeat." She reached toward his headphones. "Here, you should listen—"

"That's all right." He clamped his hands over his headphones before she could take them off and see his horns. "I'm actually quite good."

"Oh. Okay." Mois took her hand away. "So… what are you going to do today at the tech fair?"

Kululu wondered. He _was_ supposed to be looking for weaponry to trap the Messenger of Death somehow…. "I guess I'll look for things to fight the angels with."

"Ah." She rocked on her heels. "Why?"

"Well… they want to kill us," he said.

"Ohhh." Mois nodded. "But it was the Demon King who said that, wasn't it? You know, I asked some people yesterday about him, and they said that he was a big meanie and a jerk! All because he had a bad haircut, I think." She placed a finger to her cheek. "You could say, check the sources?"

 _You could say that indeed._ Kululu frowned. _And my haircut's not bad!_ "All right. I won't look for things to fight angels with. What should I do instead? You choose."

"You could make more inventions."

"I could," he nodded. "What do you think I should make?"

"Hmmm…. Maybe something with magnets that you could use to hover in the air," she decided.

He considered this. "Interesting idea for an energy source."

"So you'll do it?" Her eyes sparkled with excitement, so much that Kululu could feel himself being sucked into them. How was that even possible? "That'd be so cool! Then you could fly!"

"Well, hover," he said. "I'll give it a try."

Whether it was something about this fascinating girl's nerdiness, or whether it was something about his irresponsible nature, this was pretty much how the Demon King spent the next few weeks—telling his advisors and soldiers he was off to discover new weapons they could use in the war, going off to the tech fair instead, and then making inventions and having semi-witty chats with Mois. Sometimes he saw her there, sometimes he didn't. It was somewhat of a gamble. Still, it was a nice break from being the Demon King. But they stayed in the tech fair area, for the most part.

During one of their days at the tech fair, Kululu posed a question he hadn't thought to ask before.

"Hey, so, uh… what town are you from?" he asked. They were in the middle of a popular town board game, Brindin, since neither of them felt like doing anything else at the moment.

"Me? Um…" Her hand hovered over her tile. "…I live across the river at Arelan."

 _Arelan. No wonder,_ thought Kululu. There were mostly Gellish speakers there. Made sense now why her accent was so thick. "How do you make the commute here each day?"

"I've been staying with some relatives," she told him. "You could say, sleeping over?"

"Ku. And they don't mind that you're running off to the tech fair every few days?" He circled her tile and stacked it on top of his, winning a point.

"Aw." She frowned. "No, they don't know. They think I've been making maps all day."

"Ah. So you must travel a lot," he figured. He watched her hands, trying to predict her next move.

"I suppose so," she said slowly. "I've seen a lot of places. Do… Do you like to travel?"

"Ku, nah, not really," he replied.

She looked somewhat disappointed.

"Well, what I meant to say was… I just haven't traveled all that much yet," he quickly corrected himself. "I'm sure traveling wouldn't be all that bad, though…."

"Oh!" She perked up. "Maybe we can travel together sometime!" She took her leftmost tile and zig-zagged the five of Kululu's tiles that he had been sloppily placing all over the board in his distraction, and won the game.

"Shoot," said Kululu. He smirked a little. "I knew you were going to say that. But it was the game that I was trying to predict your moves for, not the conversation."

She smiled and folded her hands under her chin. "You should have been more focused, mister," she told him. "You could say, keep your head games?"

He couldn't help but smile back. He was focused, but on her rather than the game. He hated to admit it, but she was damn cute. He didn't even bother correcting her and saying "It's actually 'keep your head in the game' " or anything like that. Maybe… Maybe she _had_ meant head games, though. Wait, was she playing head games with him? Suddenly, Kululu wasn't sure he could understand _anything_ she was saying anymore. He sighed. He supposed he just wasn't a mind-reader like he thought he could be.

"Another game?" he asked her.

She was already setting up the pieces for the board. "I really hope you'll win this time! Be sure to do your best."

Kululu chuckled, but again, he didn't know the intent behind those words. Was she honestly encouraging him to do his best? Or was she just smothering the fact that she'd totally trounced him in his face? She was a strange human, this one. But that was what he liked about her. He kind of hoped she liked him, too, but she probably just thought he was a weirdo like everyone else did.

A rumbling sounded in the distance. All the booth managers of the tech fair turned their heads in the direction of the vibrations, and in little time, people came rushing through the gates.

"Evacuate the city!" they were all yelling. "Monsters are coming! A whole hoard of them are charging uphill! The entire fair's going to be squashed!"

People started screaming and running around like chickens with their heads cut off, except for Kululu and Mois, who were very busily immersed in the middle of a game of Brindin.

"Didn't you hear?" someone asked them. "You have to get yourselves out of the area! Monsters are going to be stampeding through!"

"Hey, quit it. You're going to break my concentration," Kululu ordered him, his fingers on his temples.

"But you have to—"

Mois bit her lip. "I'm sorry, sir, but we're a little busy…."

"But monsters are coming!"

Kululu just looked at Mois and shook his head like "what will it take to shut this guy up?"

Mois shrugged. "Maybe you should just give him something and send him off."

"Um… okay." Kululu crossed over to one of the other booths, where he tilted a roller with barrels of oil on it, and wheeled it over to the man. "Here. Um… this is oil. You can use it to repel the monsters."

The man thought for a moment, then got a light bulb over his head. "This is brilliant! We can create an oil spill at the top of the hill, and it will trickle down the incline, causing the monsters to slide down into their inevitable drowning in the river!"

"Uh, yes, exactly," Kululu agreed.

After a few minutes more into the game, Kululu and Mois heard loud shouts of anguish.

"The oil is _not_ repelling the monsters! AAAAH, they're getting closer! What are we gonna do?"

Kululu tapped his chin in thought, still deeply stuck in the game. Then he grinned and made his move.

Mois gasped. "An anastrophe this is!" She flung her hand out in distress, and accidentally knocked over a candle on one of the nearby tables.

"Don't you mean catastrophe?" he asked.

"I know what I said."

The candle that she knocked over was close enough to the gate that it fell right over and landed on the line of oil that people had poured to repel the monsters. At once, it lit aflame. The monsters charged in the opposite direction, and loud shouts of celebration sounded throughout the area.

"They did it! The two kids playing that board game have saved us!" people cheered, gathering closely around Kululu and Mois. "Please tell us, how did you know that the oil was flammable and that the monsters hated fire?"

Kululu and Mois exchanged a look and shrugged, both not having any clue what was going on.

"You could say, the lucky one's guess?" said Mois.

"Um… that's really not how the phrase goes… but that's okay! You're just a foreigner!" One of the people waved his hat in elation. "Let's treat the young couple with some drinks!"

"Yay!" everyone shouted.

"Oh, um, actually, we're not a couple," Kululu corrected at once. Honestly! Okay, yeah, it wasn't the worst thought, but... he was offended that _these_ people would think such a thing. Why would a powerful demon like himself go out with a lowly human? Even if she was a very fascinating human… and perhaps a very attractive one, as well….

Still. Kululu wasn't into that sort of thing.

"Haha, of course," said someone, not believing him. "And I suppose all that flirting between you two these past couple of weeks was just our imagination, too?"

"Ku ku ku. That's absurd," he laughed. His eyes went to Mois. "Can you believe these—"

He didn't finish his sentence, because Mois was doing something curious. She had timidly fixed her eyes to the ground, her cheeks tinted pink. Why she was behaving that way, Kululu wasn't so sure. He squinted his eyes a moment… and then it slowly dawned on him. _Ohhhhhhh dear._

"Well, at least _she_ knows what we mean," someone said with a laugh.

Mois covered her red face with her hands and stood up, knocking her chair over.

"Wait, Mois—" Kululu reached out to her.

It was too late. She had already dashed out of there.

And the people behind him just said, "Oooooooh!"

* * *

It didn't take a super genius like Kululu to know what Mois's reaction meant. She had a crush on him. He hadn't expected this! He only wanted her to like him, not _like_ him! ...Probably.

The problem was, Kululu didn't know what to do about it. It wasn't like anyone had ever had a crush on him before. Everyone in the demon realm knew he was a jerk among assholes, so they stayed away. And the ones who might have ever shown the vaguest of interests in him were always in it for the position they would inevitably get as Demon Queen. Not like being Demon Queen would get them any special abilities, anyway, unless they killed him in cold blood.

But Mois didn't know any of that. She didn't know that he was actually the Demon King. To her, he was just Kululu, the guy at the tech fair that liked to make random inventions and shoot down impractical multiverse theories with her.

Kululu didn't know what to make of this. He felt so conflicted about what he should do. On the one hand, he was super interested in seeing where this was going. On the other hand, it was a horrible, irresponsible idea, especially in the middle of a war. On the third hand, she was cute as hell. _I'll have to let her down easy,_ he told himself. _It would be the stupidest choice ever for the Demon King to let this little flame of interest burn on…_

 _No! Wait a second! I AM the Demon King! Hell, I can do whatever I want. Nobody will ever find out if I romance a human!_

With that thought in mind, Kululu went for the gold and sought out where Mois had run off to. She was hiding behind a building, sitting against it with her face still in her hands. He pulled her to her feet, earning a yelp from her.

"Kululu, it's not what you think!" she insisted. "I really—"

Before she could finish her sentence, Kululu leaned down and kissed her passionately on the lips. Mois let out a muffled moan and wrapped her arms over Kululu's shoulders.

Kululu pulled away and smirked, brimming with confidence at his newfound notion that he could pull off this shit.

"You could say—You could say—" Mois wracked her brain for an idiom that would fit the situation. But there was nothing she could say. "But… I thought you said we weren't…"

"Never said that couldn't change, did I?" He cocked an eyebrow, inwardly lauding himself for being so suave. He didn't even know he had it in him. Perhaps it had been bundled up inside of him all this time, waiting to burst out at exactly the wrong moment. "So. Meet back here in three days?"

She looked like she was about to faint. "Yes…?"

"Then we'll go and travel all the places you haven't actually mapped out." He touched her hand, then clasped it.

"A-all right." She was looking at her hand in his. "I-I'll see you then."

"See you then." He slowly walked away from her, his hand slipping from hers. And they parted.

* * *

Kululu's confidence burst carried through all the way to his war council meetings, to debates about their next move on the battlefield, and to nearly every walk of his life as the Demon King. Everyone could tell he was elated, but Garuru was the one to say something about it.

"I've never seen you so… euphoric," he stated. "It can't possibly be due to what's coming up in three days, could it?"

Kululu paled. How did his advisor know about Mois? "What do you mean, Garuru?"

"Your confronation with the Messenger of Death in Clian."

"Oh." Kululu released his breath, relieved. Then he sat back up. "Wait, what did you just say?"

"Um… that your conference with the Messenger of Death is coming up in three days? Or that you seem euphoric—"

"Three days?" Kululu clutched his hair in anxiety. It couldn't be in three days! That wasn't possible!

"You should do fine," Garuru told him. "You're not fighting, merely confronting. It is possible that there may even be negotiating going on."

"Um…" Kululu trailed off. He wished that something would save him.

As luck would have had it, the door opened, and Garuru's delivery boy, a young red-headed demon by the name of Tamama, entered the room. "Mr. Garuru I have your gross human food for you," he told him, pushing it forward. A pair of chopsticks lay on the side of the dish.

Garuru growled and looked at Kululu. Tamama may have been his delivery boy, but he still took orders from Kululu, who thought it was hilarious to prank Garuru in various ways such as switching out his delivery demon with a young, inexperienced child and then making that child serve him food that required the use of chopsticks, utensils that Garuru could not use.

"I'm not hungry for human food right now, Tamama," Garuru told him. "You know, Kululu, it's quite possible that she would attempt to murder you. But you have been preparing for her capture, correct?" he asked."After all the time you've spent at that human tech fair, you've surely come up with a vast arsenal of weaponry."

Kululu composed himself, realizing he was losing face in front of his advisor and a delivery boy. "Yes. Of course. Naturally, this shall go off without a hitch."

"Very well." Garuru departed.

Kululu went back to freaking out. Three days? How could that happen? It wasn't his probably murder he was worried about, but rather his schedule. He wouldn't be able to meet the Messenger of Death in three days. There was simply no way. Unless…

His eyes went to Tamama. "Hey, Tamama…" he spoke. "Would you like a new job?"

* * *

"Well?" said Keroro. "You've been holding your mouth open for a while now, Tamama. Why do you hate Kululu so much? Just get on with the story!"

"Right." Tamama looked downward, still reluctant to tell, but conceding nevertheless. "I used to just be a delivery boy for the Demon King's advisor, Garuru, until one day, Kululu approached me, offering me a new job…."

* * *

"A new job?" Tamama blinked his eyes at Kululu. "What kind of new job?"

"I understand that being Garuru's delivery boy can be quite tedious at times," Kululu said.

"Yeah." Tamama sighed. "He's always grumpy all the time. So, what's the new job?"

"Well, you see," he began, "I am in need of someone assisting me in the execution of the war…. But I need someone special for the job, someone I can really count on."

"And you need me?" Tamama may have been a young demon pup, but he was smart enough to smell something fishy there. "Why?"

Kululu chuckled. "Don't think so low of yourself, Tamama. You have more potential that you might think." He put his hand on Tamama's shoulder, like a cool older brother would probably do. Tamama, being none the wiser of the Demon King's infamous jerkiness, fell for it. "Everybody knows about how you're the youngest demon to ever take a host on the human plane. That's why I think you would be perfect for the job. You're better than the rest of them."

He _would_ be perfect, Kululu knew. A young mind to mold to his whim…. Could there ever have been a more perfect opportunity than this?

"I'm better?" Tamama's eyes shone at the compliment.

"Absolutely." He nodded. "But this is a top-secret mission, so I can't have you telling anyone about it, all right?"

"A-all right!" Tamama agreed.

"Who knows?" said Kululu, leaning in. "When I die, I might even need someone to take over for me…. Ku ku ku. Too bad I don't have any younger siblings."

Tamama nearly fainted at the connotation of this statement. He was going to be the next Demon King? What? Could there ever have been a more perfect opportunity than this? "I'll do it," he said. "Count me in. Count me in a million times!"

Kululu gave a wide grin. "I knew you'd say that."

* * *

"The next Demon King," Tamama spat. "What a joke! What was I thinking?"

"You were just a pup," Keroro said. "You couldn't help it."

"Exactly! I was just a pup, and Kululu took advantage of that! I had no idea that he was this big jerk!" Tears streamed down his eyes. "I thought he was going to treat me to an infinite pile of sweets or something! But no. Instead, he made me do all the things _he_ was supposed to do myself!"

* * *

"Your first task," said Kululu, "should be a simple one. You are going to meet the Messenger of Death at Clian in three days and gather information for me—her plans, her weaknesses, her abilities…."

"But what about you?" Tamama asked. "I thought _you_ were supposed to go to Clian!"

"Something else has come up," he explained. "My spies have informed me she plans to trick me. So I'll need a pup to go in my place, because everybody knows that the Messenger of Death has a weakness for demon pups and wouldn't harm them."

"She… does?" Tamama had never heard anything of the sort.

"Yes. Instead you'll probably eat sweets together," Kululu lied, "and in that time, I'll need you to gather as much information as possible."

"Where will you be?" he asked. "Just in case something goes wrong."

"I'll be gathering weaponry to trap the Messenger of Death," Kululu lied. "I already have an entire arsenal of materials, but I need to tweak them a bit. However, my guards will be protecting you on the mission."

"But… you said it's top-secret."

"They're secret guards."

"Oh, okay." Tamama easily believed this.

With that handled, Kululu successfully ditched out of his duties three days later, and met Mois at the tech fair like he'd promised. She'd dressed up for the day, wearing a corset, skirt, and tube-like stockings. However, she still wore the hat and cape she seemed so fond of, like always.

"Okay, so where do you want to go?" he asked, grinning as he walked up to her.

"I heard there's an observatory in town," she told him timidly. "I've never been inside before."

"Observatory it is, then," he decided. She slinked her arm through the crook of his elbow and they went off together.

At that time, Tamama took a carriage to Clian and sat by the place where Kululu had told him the Messenger of Death would be meeting him. He waited. And waited. And waited some more. He tossed stones onto the walkway. He played with beetles. He watched the sun go down.

"Well?" asked Kululu when the two of them met back together at the demons' base. "How did it go?"

"She… never came," Tamama admitted.

Kululu was stunned. He rubbed the side of his face. _Well, thanks for being useless,_ he mentally told Tamama. Now he'd probably never learn how flammable angel wings were.

* * *

"When the time came to meet the Messenger of Death," Kululu said to the group, "I arrived in Clian empty-handed, to show that we demons came in peace, and did not want to fight in this preposterous war any longer. But the town was empty! There was no Messenger of Death there."

Dororo and Koyuki sat on the edge of their seats as Kululu told the dramatic tale.

"That was when I realized it—the eerie silence, the lack of people. The Messenger of Death had thought to trap me!" Kululu shouted. "I tried to turn around, to escape the town, but then four armored angels dropped down around me, pointing their spears right at my throat. I thought in my head, 'Well, this is it. I'm done for.' But then I realized something."

Koyuki leaned in. "What? What did you realize?"

"I said to the angels, 'If you kill me now, I'll just go back to the human realm, and then I'll take another host and return.' Ku ku ku! If you could have seen the look on their faces! They lowered their spears and scratched their heads, and in that time, I was able to electrocute all four of them and escape unscathed."

"So… the Messenger of Death wasn't there?" asked Koyuki.

"No," Kululu breathed out. "She tried to trick me, that sly little angel. But I was too smart to be tricked."

* * *

In just a few months' time, Kululu was no longer affiliating himself whatsoever with the war. He left it all to Tamama to communicate his orders, make up orders of his own, and keep everyone's butts from being kicked by the angels. If it had been a difficult job for someone of Kululu's age, it was practically impossible for a demon pup so young as Tamama. But he persisted nevertheless, due to Kululu's empty promises.

Tamama sat at the docks of a town at night, trying to skip rocks in the waves of the water. It wasn't working so well. He let out a sigh. All this "managing a war" stuff was a lot harder than Kululu made it out to be. He had this lingering feeling that he was doing all the wrong things. Sometimes he even wondered whether it would be worth it in the end.

 _No, I can't think selfishly about this,_ Tamama told himself. _I'm doing this because Kululu's unable to. He's too busy, with his own top-secret missions to trap the angels. I bet that he's coming up with a brilliant battle plan right this moment._

Meanwhile, Kululu and Mois sat together on the balcony of an inn that overlooked that same ocean. She leaned against his shoulder and let out a sigh, gazing at the stars. Kululu knew her well enough at this point to know how sappy of a romantic she was, and how unpredictable she became.

"Kululu…." She placed with the handkerchief by his throat. "We've been traveling together awhile now…."

"Yes?" he said slowly.

"Well… do you think…" She plucked at the knot, and it came undone, falling into his lap.

She didn't have to say anything more. Kululu already knew where this was going. He started kissing the side of her neck. "Yes?"

"I—I can't talk when you're doing that!" she protested, giggling.

"You don't have to. I already know what you're going to say."

"Y-You do?" Her cheeks turned pink.

"Of course I do." He grinned. "And I would _love_ to build a submarine with you."

She stared at him dumbfounded for a second, then frowned in disappointment. "Oh. Okay."

His fingers began to untie the lacing on the side of her corset.

"Aw, you lied!" She scowled at him jokingly, and he laughed at her. They didn't call him the biggest jerk for nothing.

As they kissed more, she started undoing the buttons of his vest and stroking her hand down his bare chest. She was having a dandy time doing it, too, until Kululu's hand snaked behind her back and she let out a yelp of surprise.

"N-not back there please!" she said.

"No?" Kululu asked. His hands moved to the buttons on the neck of her cape.

"Not that either! I'll be cold without my cape!" she told him. This caused Kululu to look at her strangely, because she was going to be cold, anyway, without the rest of her clothes on. His hands moved to her hat. "That too!" She clamped her hands over it. "I have a really embarrassing scar…."

"I'm sure it's fine," Kululu insisted. He started massaging her inner thighs.

She moaned, but shook her head. "Well, how about you take off your headphones?"

Kululu frowned. "All right, all right. I won't press it." _She trying to keep ALL her clothes on?_ As she toyed with the belt buckle of his pants, he started slipping her stocking off her legs, which she seemed fine with. He managed to get everything else off, besides the hat and cape. Once everything was off that needed to be off, they fulfilled their dirty desires together, a scene that will be unfortunately skipped because this is rated T and our little sister is reading.

As the two of them moaned and groaned together in the inn, Tamama thought to himself with certainty, _Yup. Bet he's coming up with a brilliant battle strategy right this moment._

It was only the morning after, when Kululu awoke with Mois next to him on the bed of the inn and their clothes still flung out on the wood balcony, that he realized with horror just what he had done. _Why? Why did I have to give in so compulsively?_ he asked himself. _I'm the Demon King! I should have more self-control than this!_

He quickly dressed himself and decided he needed to get some fresh air and consider things a bit. As he made his way to the door, Mois sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes.

"Where ya going, Kululu?" she asked in a sleepy voice.

"Ku… uh… just to go to the market and bring some food back," he told her, trying to keep his eyes off her chest as the blanket slid down.

"Oh. Okay, then." She flopped back down and instantly went back to sleep.

 _Phew…_ Kululu let out his breath and walked through the door. He hoped it would only take about half an hour to compose himself, and then he could come back, pretending that nothing had even happened. But wait… they were traveling together. They would be staying at a lot of inns….

 _Just don't think about it. Just don't think about it,_ he told himself. He was NOT being an irresponsible king. Definitely not. Not if he didn't think about it, at least. Luckily, he was in a small town that nobody recognized him in, so he should be good to go.

When he walked back from the market after pick up food like he promised, though, he bumped into a very unfriendly reminder of this prospect—Tamama.

"Crud! Tamama…" he said quietly. "It's… nice to see you here…." He tried to walk past him.

" _Kululu_?" Tamama looked so confused. "What are you doing in this town? I thought you said you were building a war submarine!"

"Ummm… I am," he lied. "With these…" he glanced at his basket. "…machine parts."

Tamama peered inside the basket. "That's food," he told him. "You can't build a submarine with food."

"Ku ku. It'll be a food submarine." Kululu tried to walk past again.

"Why is your hair so messy?" Tamama asked him.

Angrily, Kululu combed his fingers through his hair, trying to straighten it out. He had to get away from Tamama. The inn was so close, he could see it! In fact, he could even see Mois open up the door to the balcony and step out….

"Shoot," he muttered. "Talk to you later, Tamama. Gotta go and do important war stuff."

"Huh?" said Tamama as Kululu walked off.

* * *

"Sometimes I did suspect that Kululu was really just ditching out on his duties," Tamama said to Keroro. "Often I had his carriages take me to different nearby towns and villages…. And sometimes I saw him in them. Then I'd ask what he was doing there, and he'd make up some weird excuse and run off. Usually toward an inn."

Keroro peered at him with squinted eyes. "An inn…?"

"Yeah. Sometimes he brought food." Tamama just shook his head and laughed. "I don't know why he kept going to the markets, because he'd always have _really_ messy hair in the morning."

Keroro gaped and slapped the sides of his face in disgust. "Oh god…."

"What? What's 'oh god?' " Tamama asked. Keroro leaned over and whispered to him. Soon Tamama was sharing his same look of horror. "He was doing _that_?" Keroro nodded solemnly. "I—I thought he was just running away from me because he didn't think I was cool enough! So I told all his soldiers that he wanted them to go out and capture the Messenger of Death, because then he would have thought I was cooler if I captured his enemy…." He looked at the ground and sniffled.

But capturing the Messenger of Death had been easier said than done. Although she frequently struck various towns and villages, nobody was able to give any reports on where she was headed next. After months of searching, they still had come up with zero results.

* * *

"That war of the year continued to be brutal for the demons," Kululu went on with his story, totally into it at this point. "But one day, a realization struck me: We were all suffering because we still had yet to capture the Messenger of Death." He was basically quoting Fuyuki's play at this point. "So I went out all on my own with my arsenal of weaponry to seek her out and capture her, once and for all."

* * *

After Tamama's command to the soldiers, Kululu suddenly started having a lot more war council meetings than usual throughout the rest of the year. Luckily, they were planned in advance, so he was able to tell Mois when he'd be able to see her.

"Sorry," he apologized at the end of one of their dates. "Work's pretty far from here, and you know how hard it is to get carriages to take the forest and mountain roads…. So I guess all those week-long trips are going to have to go on hold for a while."

"Aw." She looked disappointed. "I understand. You could say, bear and grin it?"

"Well… I guess you could." He smiled at her, even though she got her idiom wrong again. He supposed that would never change, and at some point he'd stopped correcting her, because it was pretty cute. Also, she often messed them up so badly that he keeled over laughing. Sometimes she deliberately messed them up so they'd sound silly, or provocative, or even correct (at least on accident). "So, what'll you be doing next week while I'm gone?"

"Plan our anniversary!" she said immediately.

"Our what?"

"Our anniversary." She frowned at him for forgetting. "It's almost been a year, Kululu!"

 _Wow… a year._ He couldn't believe it. Time sure went by quickly when you were immortal. Strangely, that was a bit of a sad thought for him. Mois was just a mortal. She's grow up so much quicker than he, and then die. He started to sulk.

Mois didn't notice. She just kept on talking. "I'll probably spend time with my family, too," she decided. "They're mad that I haven't been spending much time with them."

"Oh. You're gonna go home? Good luck," he said. Arelan was tremendously far, nearly across the country. It would take days to get there by carriage.

"Kululu… can I ask you a question?" Mois asked.

"Shoot."

"Do you… have a family yourself?"

Kululu thought about that. What kind of question even was that? "Of course I have a family. Everyone does."

"Really? What are they like?"

"Hmm… well, I haven't talked to my sister in years, since we still hate each other…." He tapped his chin. "My dad and brother both died around the same time when I was little, so I guess they're not around anymore. Ku!"

Mois knit her eyebrows and stroked Kululu's shoulder. "That's so sad."

"And… I never knew my mom, since she died when I was just a pu—just an infant. And I think I know why." He had given it a lot of thought over the years, and eventually decided that his dad probably killed her to keep her from killing him and taking the throne.

"So… you don't have a family," she deduced.

"Guess it depends on what your definition of 'family' is, ku ku ku!" But she was right. He really didn't have a family, now that he thought about it. Oh, well. It wasn't like he needed one. He had a girlfriend. Albeit, a mortal girlfriend. But he was the Demon King. He could do what he wanted.

A little later, after much hugging and kissing, they departed, and Kululu found himself back at the demon base, trying not to fall asleep during the war council meetings. The closer to the end of the week he got, the sleepier he became. Time seemed to slow down when you're bored, even for an immortal.

The interesting thing was, demons weren't even supposed to sleep. And yet, the war council meetings were _so boring_ that he was being pushed past his limits as a demon.

He often found himself thinking about Mois. Now that was one person he _could_ fall asleep with. And not in a bad way, of course. He really missed her at the moment. He wondered if she was having a good time back with her family in—

"—Arelan," a soldier said. "And today we've received reports of mass destruction in Clian, the Pata islands, and Gorvenstine."

"Wait, back up a sec." Kululu sat up in his throne. "What was that about Arelan?"

"No, that was yesterday," said the soldier.

"But what _happened_ yesterday?" Kululu demanded.

"Oh. Landslide," she replied. "Just like Gorvenstine. These humans should really know better than to build their villages by the cliffside." She let out a sigh. "But we all know it wasn't a landslide caused naturally. The Messenger of Death has been at it again. If we predict the next town that she'll strike in, we might have a chance in…"

Kululu wasn't listening anymore. A void of darkness seemed to swallow him up. Arelan was destroyed. That was the town that Mois was in.

"Were there any survivors?" he cut in. "In Arelan, I mean."

"N-no," the soldier said. "There are never any survivors in the places that have been unlucky enough to meet the Messenger of Death."

Kululu slumped into his chair, devastation overtaking him. He couldn't believe this. Mois was dead? But that couldn't have been. Just last week, he was talking to her. They were planning their anniversary….

No! This couldn't have been true!

 _She's just a mortal,_ some place in the back of his head was telling him. _All mortals have to die someday. Let her go._

He wanted to cry, but suddenly he couldn't remember how.

* * *

Kululu walked through the start of the next day as if it was a dream. He couldn't believe anything anymore. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't focus on anything, he couldn't operate. He was still in shock, later in the day, Tamama came running up to him, happier than ever.

"We did it! We did it, Kululu!" His eyes shone with excitement. "It's taken us over half a year, but we've finally done it!"

Kululu knew he wanted him to ask, "Done what?" but he just didn't have it in him.

Tamama answered for himself, anyway. "We've captured the Messenger of Death! Here's her staff! We took it away from her." He placed something small in Kululu's hand, but Kululu didn't bother to look at what it was. He clenched his fist around it, remembering something. It was the Messenger of Death that killed Mois. For that, she would pay immensely.

"Where is she," Kululu growled.

"Come see for yourself!" Tamama grabbed his wrist with both hands, trying to drag him away. "It's so cool! She's got three eyes! The third one's on her forehead, and it blinks right at you!" He bounced up and down. "Come _on_!"

"Just show me already!" he demanded.

Tamama led him into a large room with concrete pillars and a dome at the top. In the center of the room, a cage with a large drape over it was suspended over an indented floor that laid several stories below.

"Ah, you've brought the Demon King," said one of the guards for the room, Bob.

Kululu narrowed his eyes, his horns sparking in fury. "Let's get this over with."

"Are you ready?" he asked. Kululu nodded. "Lift the curtain, Fred!"

Kululu prepared to toast this angel for what she had done.

The other guard, Fred, proceeded to reel down the ropes. As he was doing so, Kululu's eyes wandered down to the so-called staff in his hand. All of a sudden, he was confused. This wasn't a staff. This was a pocketwatch. _Wait a second. I've seen this before!_

Before he could think anything else of it, however, the drape was pulled upward to reveal the capture.

The sight almost gave Kululu a heart attack.

* * *

"Three eyes," Kululu told the group. "A true monster, indeed."

"I _know_ she had three eyes," Koyuki said. "It's in the book in my shrine!"

"Yes, but if you could have seen the creature up close, you wouldn't be able to believe it." Kululu lowered Fuyuki's face, casting it in darkness due to how the flames danced off of it. "It moved independently from the other two eyes, and focused on you, looking into your soul, _judging_ you. And she had wings like a vulture, poised as if she was waiting for you to die, so she could rip out your intestines!"

Koyuki jumped a little at the part where he said "rip out your intestines."

* * *

Of course, she didn't really have wings like a vulture. She did have a third eye that locked directly onto Kululu, but then, so did the rest of her eyes.

She didn't look bloodthirsty, or soulless, or high and mighty. She was chained up, her mouth covered with a gag, and had tears streaming down her face as Kululu and she gazed at each other.

But there was one thing about her that Kululu couldn't ignore. There was one thing about her that he didn't understand. There was one thing that made his hands tremble at the whole situation. And that feature, in particular, was incredibly important.

It was Mois.


	19. How I Won the War: Part 2

**My sister would like to point out an inconsistency last chapter, she at one point said demons were immortal, but they aren't they just have really long lifespans.**

 **The second part. Here you go.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **If you successfully believed that this was a rainbowkittyblossomwing story with no kurumois, I'd just like to tell you you'd be wrong. There will always be kurumois. Always.**

* * *

The first emotion that washed over him was relief. _Mois... She's alive!_ he realized.

Quickly, that emotion was replaced with another. Anger. And eventually, hatred and malice. _She's an angel! Not only that, the Messenger of Death!_

He slowly closed the door behind him, walking into her cell. "You stay there," he ordered the guards, Bob and Fred. They nodded.

"Ku, ku, ku. Bet you were never even going to tell me." He glared at Mois. "That all along I was dating a vile angel. And the Messenger of Death, at that!"

Mois tried to struggle free, to talk to him. Eventually she got her gag off.

"You lied to me!" he yelled at her angrily. "Is your name even Mois?"

"It's Angol Mois. Of the Angol tribe," she shot back. "And can you really be the only one that can say there was someone here who lied? Who's the one with horns on their head?"

Kululu touched his horns. "Ku, ku, ku. True. But, my dear, I'm not just any demon. Just like you're the messenger of death, I too have a title... I am the Demon King, Kululu!" he announced proudly.

Mois tilted her head to the side. "Who's that?" she asked, forgetting their conversation last chapter. "The demons have a king?"

"Of course they have a king! I rule them!" Kululu pointed to himself, insulted that she didn't know who he was. "Ku, ku, ku. You see, Mois, you and I are mortal enemies - the leader of the demons, and the strongest of the angels..." He was trying to make this a power play, dramatic, like he had caught a vile villain. But Mois just seemed confused.

"I don't think we're mortal enemies. I mean... aren't demons kind of weak? They are the enemy, I suppose, but only temporarily." She totally dismissed the demons power.

Kululu frowned, feeling terrible. She totally didn't care about him! She just dismissed who he was, like the demons weren't even worth her thoughts.

 _Our whole relationship... Everything... It was probably just a lie. She probably didn't care for humans either and was just using me. Waiting to kill me in my sleep or something._ He clenched his fists. He should have expected this. This betrayed feeling. He had been wrong to trust someone, even for a little bit.

It was just like Rinono had said. Everyone who loved him would eventually leave him, and Mois was no different.

She was just an evil angel who probably desired his body to be maimed and bloody. His eyes grew cold, along with his heart, as he glared down at his former girlfriend. "A fitting anniversary present, huh? Ku, ku, ku," he cackled coldly.

Mois frowned. "Were you ever going to tell me you were the Demon King?" she asked, now being the one to feel betrayed. "Or did I mean nothing to you? Were you just using me for the sex?" Her question was so honest, so hurt.

 _She's trying to trick you, Kululu, making you think she's the victim here. She was the one trying to kill us! Admittedly because I'm an evil jerk of a guy that drew the angels' attention, but she still wants to kill me. I've heard about how bloodthirsty the angels are,_ Kululu thought.

He got closer to Mois. Directly in front of her face. "As an Angol, you have that judgment power, right? Now that you don't have some sort of hat covering your eye, you can finally see me for who I really am and answer that question for yourself," he told her, allowing her to look into the pits of his very dark soul.

Mois frowned. It was one of the blackest souls she had judged. He was truly evil and deserved the angels' destruction. She had never met someone who deserved that fate, actually, and she was terrified because this was the guy she'd been dating for a year.

"There's your answer. Ku, ku, ku." He looked at Mois's face, filled with disgust. "You meant nothing to me. You were just a quick fix to boredom, Mois." He tried to make cutting her off quick and painless so it would be easier on the both of them.

This never should have happened. Their chance meeting, them even dating for a year. And now they were both going to suffer the consequences from heartbreak. "At least now you can't lead the war against us, because I have you captured right here!"

"S-so... I was just a quick fix for boredom..." Mois begin to sniffle and cry even more. It was an almost pathetic sight, the Messenger of Death, crying in a cell.

She was everything he shouldn't have liked - childish, naive, cute, innocent - yet those tears hurt him so much. He looked away, averting his eyes.

"You're not the prince charming I envisioned you'd be!" she accused, like that was the big lie he had told her instead of him being human.

He blinked for a few moments, confused by what she had said. Then he laughed. "Of course I'm not! Ku, ku, ku. Where'd you get that idea?"

"Well, I mean... Whenever I destroy a species, I make sure to keep at least a little bit of them alive, so I take all of their fairy tales and put them in a book for myself... If there's anything I've learned, it's that chance meetings like ours were supposed to make a romance, but..." She was cut off by Kululu.

"So you didn't even care about me? You were just trying to follow what was in your stupid made-up fairy tale book?" He was insulted. _I knew it. I knew there had to be some ulterior motive why some girl like her seemed to like me._ In this case, she hadn't seen the real him, literally and figuratively. They had both seen very fake versions of the other.

"We were supposed to have the romance of a lifetime! That's what the books said!" Mois insisted. Kululu turned around. This was just disgusting him now.

"Gross. You couldn't be more wrong about me." He was about to turn the door handle and leave her to her misery. "Do you believe demons are truthfully evil and deserve to die?" he finally asked. He needed to know if there was any part of her that still cared for him.

He needed for once, to be a good king, and ask for demonkind's sake.

"Yes," she responded honestly.

Anger boiled in his blood, and his spiral horn untwisted. Quickly it shot out and latched itself around Mois's neck, lifting her just barely off the ground as it strangled her.

She gasped for air, trying to flap her wings free.

 _I have to eliminate her if she believes that._ Kululu had to be cold. For the demons. It was time to wipe his little mistake with Mois under the rug.

Tears came out of Mois's eyes again as she closed them, knowing that Kululu was about to kill her.

He dropped her onto the ground instead.

She gasped, wishing dearly she could rub her sore neck.

 _I couldn't finish the job. Pathetic._ Kululu realized. He couldn't bare to look down at how much pain she was in.

Pity was probably the true weapon the angels wielded. He felt so much of it.

"Consider us over," he told her coldly. "I'll talk to my advisers on the best way to kill you. Maybe it would be better in front of your people, so they could see how their Messenger of Death was so easily killed. Public executions are always better than private ones. Ku, ku, ku." He still acted cold, his tone evil. But his heart just felt anger toward her.

She sobbed, letting out choked, delicate little tears. He opened the door and ran, closing it behind him.

As soon as he couldn't hear her sobs any longer, he cried too. Despite the anger he felt, he had really loved her. _But... I loved an illusion of her. Not the real her. I love the cute, nerdy and innocent Mois. I didn't know she was the evil Messenger of Death._

 _And that's as much a part of her as the other part._ Kululu cried. His Mois had never existed. She was gone.

* * *

"After we had captured the Messenger of Death, I, of course, tortured her," Kululu bragged to the group, "You wouldn't believe all the cruel things I put her through, because by the end of our little torture session, the strong Messenger of Death you think existed was crying. Your illusion of her just isn't real."

Koyuki covered her mouth. Was that really something to be proud of? That Kululu had tortured her till she cried?

"Why didn't you kill her, then?" Dororo asked.

"Ku. I almost did. Strangled her a lot. But then I decided that it would be better if I waited to kill her so I could lure out the rest of the angels, so I settled on just torture for the time being."

"That's cruel," Koyuki whispered, holding onto Dororo's arm. Kululu was starting to sound more and more frightening than the Messenger of Death as he spoke.

Honestly, Fuyuki had to agree with Koyuki.

* * *

What Kululu didn't know when he was gone was that when Mois's tears had dried up, she began to think, to plot on how to get out of her cell.

 _The real problem is these chains. If I were out of these, I could break out,_ she realized. But only one person might have had the chance of taking her out of the chains. She only knew one person in this dungeon - Kululu.

The next time Kululu was passing by, Mois called to him. "Kululu~!"

Kululu turned to her door, looking through the bars in the window. He had been coming to see her anyway, having decided it would probably benefit him if he dug up some information on the angels and what their plans were before her death, but what was with her sudden buddy-buddy tone?

"What is it?" he asked. Unlocking the door and entering it to look down on her.

Angol Mois gave him puppy-dog eyes and a hurt look. "My chains are hurting me, they're way too tight..." she told him.

"How stupid do you think I am? That's like one of the oldest tricks in the book." Kululu told her, face-palming.

"What would untightening them do to advantage me? You've already proven you're stronger than me. Even if I do get unchained somehow, there's still a strong, concrete wall keeping me in this dungeon, and I can't break out of that. I don't have my staff on me, so I can't use any of my angelic powers... It really wouldn't do anything to benefit an escape or something," she lied.

"No," Kululu refused, crossing his arms.

 _Another tactic will have to do then,_ she sighed. He had said that he had dated her out of boredom. Perhaps she had better pique his interest?

"But... I miss the feel of your skin against mine... Even if it's just for a little bit..." She pouted her lip and looked up at him. "I don't understand, Kululu. I'm your prisoner, and I hate you, but even though we're over, these feelings won't stop... I've never had desires like these and I'm so unfamiliar with them... I just want to touch you." She moved a little bit in her chains to expose herself a little more to him, and her cheeks went into a fake flush to show her embarrassment and desire.

 _Don't be stupid, Kululu. You're the Demon King. You are in control of your own emotions,_ Kululu told himself as he bit his lip. She was trying to trick him! But... he couldn't deny, he was a little turned on by her words.

He was smarter than this, though. He was way smarter... That was why he was currently loosening her chains just a little bit. _HOW STUPID CAN I BE?_ Kululu yelled at himself in his head. But he didn't stop.

Mois leaned up and kissed him passionately on the lips, and Kululu's yelling softened, as all felt right in the world again. It was peaceful as she kissed him, like he belonged. She sucked on the bottom of his lip, before finally taking her lips off of him.

"Please, Kululu... I promise I'll let you chain me up afterward... But I just... I want you so much...I can't think straight..." she begged, like the foul temptress she was.

Kululu couldn't agree more. He currently also couldn't think straight as he released her chains.

At first, she kissed him deeply for a few moments, entwining her fingers in his hair, but then she took the chains off the ground and hooked them up to his own arms and legs.

"Hey... Hey, what's this for?" he asked.

She kissed him again on the neck. "Don't worry, Kululu, it's just a little bit of fun." She started unbuttoning his shirt.

He let her do what she wanted, because he was being stupid and not thinking with his brain. He surrounded himself to whatever Mois wanted, and the bliss between them and the feeling of rightness of just having her close to him.

When she had had her way with him and was done and had all her clothes back on, she smiled at him.

"Bye, Kululu!" she waved. "That was loads of fun, but I have to go now!"

"Wh-what...?" he asked. He tried to struggle free of the chains, but they were too tough.

A small black orb hovered in Mois's hand. When she threw it at the wall, it enlarged and blew it up, as if it ate the mass of the wall.

 _So that's another angel power... Crud._ How large could those things get? How many people could be destroyed by those?

"Later~!" she told him before running off.

Kululu just stared after her, completely naked, and completely confused. He had been conned good.

Eventually, his guards, Bob and Fred, passed by. He had to call to them to get them to release him. He blushed, embarrassed, as he got dressed.

"Um... well this is the worst thing I've seen yet," Fred told Bob.

"Yeah. How'd that happen anyway, boss?" Bob asked.

"You're both fired," Kululu told them. They must not spread the shame he had just experienced. He needed to make sure nobody knew about it.

Bob and Fred looked at each other sadly.

 _I guess I lost the Messenger of Death..._ Kululu was humiliated and mad.

* * *

"How'd the Messenger of Death escape?" Koyuki asked. "I mean, obviously she didn't die right then..."

"Uhhh... that is a very important question, and it has a very simple and interesting answer." Everybody could tell Kululu was trying to figure this one out. "I had assigned two human guards to keep watch over her, and they screwed up. She did the oldest trick in the book, asking for her chains to be loosened, and those idiots fell for it!"

"Wow. I mean, that really _is_ the oldest trick. They really must have been quite simple-minded," Dororo nodded, agreeing with Kululu. "The only thing stupider to fall for, I believe, would be flirting with the guard."

"Yep. And they did not fall for that one. Ku, ku, ku. That did not happen." There was slightly nervous laughter. "Anyway, let me continue my story." Kululu changed the subject.

* * *

He didn't see Mois again for a week. Instead, he worked on his inventions bitterly, angrily, but most of all lonely.

 _These inventions I suppose are the only companions I truly have,_ he thought to himself. He was just beginning to realize that perhaps he hadn't dealt with the situation involving Mois in the best way. A year of dating and he had thrown it all down the drain because of their differences.

He should have known that she was alive instead of dead. Hadn't he grieved her? And he obviously still wanted to be with her, but... that was impossible now. She was the Messenger of Death herself, his enemy and the purest evil in this universe. She wanted to kill his species.

As he screwed a new gear in, he felt this uncomfortable presence. Like something was watching him. He looked to his left and saw her, lying on her stomach and resting her head on her hands, watching his movements carefully.

"Mois?" He admitted he was surprised to see her here. And _watching_ him, of all things. "Why are you back? You escaped a week ago. And how'd you get back in?"

She smiled gently at him. "You'd be surprised how many people are fooled by me just simply putting on a hat and cape. It's like nobody suspects an angel hiding in plain sight. You could say, walked straight in? Didn't even need an ID card!" She teased, "You should train your demons more."

Kululu frowned. "You can go, Mois. You've proven... in a very humiliating way... that I can't imprison you. It would be best not to let me imprison you again, so why don't you just run on home so I can be alone with my inventions?" he asked. "So leave me alone. That's all I'm ever going to be, after all, until you eventually destroy my entire race. Then I'll be alone and _dead_. A great combination. Ku, ku, ku." He turned around to keep her from looking at his face.

She continued watching him.

He sighed with annoyance. "Why are you even here, Mois?" Did she want something?

She crawled over, to make more direct eye contact with him. He jumped a little bit. He didn't want to admit he was afraid of now all three of her innocent eyes watching him.

"Because I wanted to tell you I forgive you for not telling me," she spoke.

He moved back a little bit more. That was honestly the last thing he had imagined her ever saying to him. _I strangled her... Almost killed her. Broke her heart... And she forgives me? I have the blackest soul of all the demons and she forgives me nonetheless?_

He let himself look at her face for a moment, and was greeted by the most innocent and forgiving thing he had ever been faced with. The pure innocence and forgiveness of her unconditional affection and sparkley eyes.

"Wh-why? Why do you forgive me?" he asked.

"Because I realized I still love you. I fell in love with you, even if you are the Demon King. That guy I met at the tech fair who was smart, creative, and even a bit of a jerk, I loved more than anything else. And even if you're the most evil soul in the universe, that wouldn't change. Because what I feel in my heart isn't some sort of made-up fairy tale love. It's real. And it isn't going away." She put all her honest feelings on the line.

It only took him a minute to register this and for her staring to finally break him down. His anger and the feelings of betrayal and loneliness died right there and he broke down in her arms. He grabbed her and held her, crying in her arms.

She draped her arms over him, stroking his hair and letting him rest on her chest as he sobbed. Her wings enveloped him in this nice, pure warmth, like they were hugging them too. She smiled.

"I-I'm so sorry... I was just so frightened. You were the Messenger of Death, you were going to kill me, all our dating had been a lie, and you were using me... That's what I thought, but I... I really do love you, Mois," he cried pathetically. She pat his head, telling him gently, "There, there."

He kept blubbering sweet tear-filled nothings to her and how much he cared about her, partly happy she was back, and partly ashamed by all the weak sweet things he was saying. He knew it wasn't his fault, though.

It was those terrifying, sparkly, innocent eyes.

* * *

"The next time I encountered the Messenger of Death was in the forest when I was looking for some minerals that would help us in the war," Kululu lied. "That's when I realized the Messenger of Death's true evil power... The thing that makes me even frightened to this day."

He paused for dramatic effect as everybody listened closely.

He whispered his next words in a hushed voice, as if it was some sort of scary story: "Her sparkly eyes."

Everybody just blinked.

"I don't understand." Dororo finally put everybody's feelings into words.

"How can you not understand?" Kululu was insulted. "Her eyes were terrifying! And sparkling! They could make you say things that you didn't ever envision yourself saying! They possessed you, even though she hadn't taken over your body! They judged you, but made you say everything out loud, so others could judge you too!"

They still didn't understand why her eyes sparkled.

* * *

Mois rested her head on Kululu's shoulder as he held her closely after the two had cried it out and made up.

"You know... everybody said you had a bad haircut or something, but I really like your hair," she noted.

"Thanks," he told her, not knowing what to make of that. He kissed her gently on the cheek.

"What do we do now, Kululu?" she wondered, saying aloud both their worries. "I'm an angel and you're a demon."

"I don't know," he admitted. "I don't even know much about angels, to be honest. What do they do? What are your goals?"

"We purify evil species from the universe, cleaning things up so they can't doom our entire timeline," she told him. "I can jump from dimension to dimension. I've seen thousands of species and destroyed them."

"Ah!" Kululu thought for a moment, remembering their first meeting. "So it's kind of like a reset mechanism? Just like you did for the watch. You destroy it, so something new can be created that's better," he understood.

The angels weren't so evil, then. They were just looking at the bigger picture.

"I suppose... Honestly, _I_ just do it for fun!" she giggled, cutely. "That's why I'm the Messenger of Death, after all. I'm the angel who's destroyed the most species, so they elected me leader, since I have the most practice. Truth be told, I think they might be a little bit afraid of me. They think I'm, like, bloodthirsty or something. But I just think it's fun and nice. You could say, casual hobby?"

Kululu frowned. He could see why there were so many rumors about her. He decided to change the subject. "I'm glad you aren't dead. I heard about the landslide in Arelan and got so worried about you since that was your hometown."

Mois paused and giggled a bit. "Oh yeah! I told you I lived there, didn't I?" she recalled. "I forgot. Sorry, my bad! I destroyed Arelan!"

Kululu bopped her on the nose. "Stupid. I was worried for you." He paused for a moment. "So... were you really going to kill me? You _did_ set up that meeting between us to negotiate things. I assume you were going to kill me, then?"

"Oh, that meeting?" she tilted her head, confused. "I didn't set that up. The other angels did. They said they wanted me to kill the king or something. I didn't really care. I like to do things on a more quick and large scale than one-on-one, you know?"

 _So... she wasn't the one to set it up..._ Kululu held her tightly and sat in silence with her for a while. "I have an idea how to make this work, if you're up for it," he suggested after thinking.

She looked up at him.

"Ku ku ku. Whenever you want to meet with me you could be my personal prisoner or something! I could just keep you with me and keep my eye on you if anyone asks. It would be better than a cell. And then I'd get to spend time with you instead of being on the battlefield," he told her.

"Is that... okay?" she asked.

"Sure. I'm dooming my species anyway because of my young age. I barely work on the war, anyway, and I'd much rather be with you." He gently kissed her neck. She moaned.

"I better make a prisoner sign, then," she decided.

"Sign?" Kululu asked. Did they really need a sign for this?

Apparently they did. She made a bad wooden sign that she carried with her on the battlefield that read "prisoner."

All the demons fell for this anyway.

* * *

"I quickly caught her again and ensnared her in a dastardly trap of mine that I invented," Kululu told everybody. "But she had escaped once from a cell, so I decided to make her my personal prisoner. It was a big responsibility, but it was the best way to learn about those evil angels," Kululu explained.

"Oh! So that's where the rumors about the prisoner sign came from!" Dororo remembered. "Someone said the Messenger of Death was walking around the battlefield with a wooden sign."

"Um... Yes..." Kululu cleared his throat. "Anyway, I kept her prisoner for a while."

* * *

Tamama rubbed his ankle, still unable to move. Keroro waited for more of his story.

"Did I ever tell you about the first time I met the Messenger of Death?" Tamama asked. Keroro shook his head. "It was on the battlefield. I'll never forget the face of that woman and the stupid prisoner sign she held."

* * *

Mois smiled at Tamama when he happened upon Kululu and her. "Nice to meet you. So you're Tamama? The one Kululu's training?" She shook his hand, still holding the sign.

 _This is not what I expected from the Messenger of Death..._ Tamama frowned. Something about her just seemed really dim-witted and ditzy. Did she realize she was captured, or not?

"Yep. He carries out my orders on the war front," Kululu told her. "This is the Messenger of Death, Tamama. As you know, she's my prisoner."

The Messenger of Death and Kululu stood very closely to each other. It was very suspicious.

"It'll be wonderful getting to know you! Awww... You look so cute and young! Like a little puppy!" Mois pat his head.

Tamama growled like he was a piranha. He wanted to bite he hand off.

"Awww... he's cute! I want one!" she pouted.

"Sorry, but he's not for sale," Kululu told her. Mois sighed. "Anyway, Tamama... I have to do an important interrogation, so you're on the battlefield again, relaying my orders. Bye." Kululu then put his arm around the Messenger of Death and took her away to his tent.

He would always forget to tell Tamama what the order _were_ that he was relaying.

* * *

 _They always had interrogations in his tent... It was so annoying!_ Tamama remembered. "I don't know why he needed to interrogate that woman so much, but the worst part was he'd never tell me his orders... Wait..." The wheels in Tamama's head started turning at all the moaning he had heard when he had approached the tent. All the disgusting moaning.

 _EW! EW! EW! No... That's not what happened... Is it?_ Tamama went through disgust at the discovery he now saw that he was older.

Keroro just blinked. He didn't know what Tamama had discovered. He felt sorry for whatever it was, though.

* * *

Mois and Kululu's relationship was going perfectly. Happily, even. She would slip off sometimes and visit the angels, so they had no idea she had been fake captured by the demons, and Kululu would fake-capture her so they could be seen in public together.

It was perfect, but eventually they started prioritizing each other more than their own species.

"I hope the angels win," Kululu would say during a Gellish lesson from Mois. He wanted to be able to speak her language fluently so he could talk with her better. It was his turn to do bad idioms.

"No! I hope the demons win! Because I don't want you to die!" She would tell him, kissing him lovingly.

"Game on, then. I bet you'll win," Kululu bet.

"No! You'll definitely win!" she told him. They both smiled. It was time to be super traitorous and help each other's teams. just for a game.

Kululu would send notes to the angels in Gellish about the detailed surprise attacks the demons were planning to do, having to sit through the war council meetings and learn them. And Mois would tell Tamama constantly about the angels' various weaknesses.

Eventually, both sides started destroying each other in an eternal loop of being caught in the middle of an attack but using their weaknesses against them.

This suitedl Mois and Kululu just fine, though. They would always make up about either team winning and then make out passionately over their silly little game.

"I'll beat you Mois. I'll make sure the angels win," he told her, kissing her happily and blindly. She shook her head, but continued kissing him.

They didn't see the true travesty of war.

* * *

"I got a ton of angel weaknesses out of the Messenger of Death. We should have won the war during that time, due to my knowledge of angel weaknesses, but somehow they kept learning of our surprise attacks! I didn't realize that she was gaining information from a young officer of when the attacks would happen and was sending letters to the other angels in Gellish, which at the time, I couldn't read. I eventually learned enough about the language to decipher her letters, though," Kululu lied.

Everybody listened to Kululu's story in awe. The Messenger of Death had been quite the trickster!

* * *

"There was one point of the war where we suffered great casualties," Tamama remembered. "Kululu mysteriously disappeared for six months. To this day, I still don't know where he went, but he left everything to me."

"I remember that! Well, not you being there, but everybody had no idea where Kululu was. We all thought he had been captured by the angels, but then one day he showed back up? What was with that?" Keroro remembered.

* * *

"So, Kululu... There were six months that you went missing, if I remember correctly..." Dororo paused, remembering the war. "May I ask why?"

"It turned out the Messenger of Death figured out how to escape. She got her angels to capture me. Even though I put up a great fight, the Anguls - those skeleton angels - got me anyway. They took me back to the angel realm and caged me up. It took months to sneak the materials by them to break out of my cage and escape." Kululu admitted.

"That must have been a horrible six months... I'm sorry... They didn't hurt you, did they?" Koyuki asked.

"It was torture," he told her.

* * *

It hadn't actually been torture. In fact, his six month imprisonment had actually been a vacation that had started with a simple question.

"Ku ku, wouldn't it be funny if we ditched this all and got married?" Kululu asked, stroking Mois's shoulder as they lay in bed together.

Mois sat up and glared at him. "No!" she yelped.

Kululu tried to hide his expression of sadness. Sure, he had been serious with his proposal, but even though he had tried to make it light-hearted, it still hurt to be utterly rejected!

She saw Kululu's hurt expression, though. "You have to propose the _right_ way. If you're going to do it, is what I meant." She crossed her arms. "I will take nothing less than a romantic proposal."

He paused and looked up at her, and scooted her off of him. He went over to his clothes and wriggled something out of his pocket. Taking out a ring that had been passed down his family in the demon realm that he happened to have on him, he carefully crouched on one knee.

"Well, then... Mois... I've known you for a while now, and I honestly believe you're the love of my life. I don't ever want to be apart from you. I want to be with you for the rest of time itself. Will you marry me?" he asked, hoping that was over-the-top enough and romantic enough for her.

Little sparkly tears fell out of her eyes as she threw herself at him in a hug. "Of course I will, Kululu! I would love to marry you!"

Kululu grinned. "We'll probably have to pretend to be humans again so that a priest can marry us, but then we'll run off together." He couldn't wait to elope with her.

She smiled, filled with happiness.

* * *

Her wedding dress was beautiful, complete with cape to cover her wings. She had a crown on, too, that covered her third eye, like a headband.

"We sure look strange," Kululu hummed to himself. "Not very human, but it doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm with you. Ku, ku, ku."

"I'm glad that the priest isn't like some clothes designer or something. He'd totally be able to recognize that this is angel fabric!" Mois smiled.

Kululu held her. "If he did, we'd kill him or something." He kissed her on the cheek. He was glad she'd let him see the wedding dress beforehand. He loved seeing her in it.

* * *

The chapel was empty, just like he had wanted. Eloping was the best. He held her hand tightly as the priest spoke.

"Do you... Kululu, take Mois to be your lawful wedded wife in sickness and in health, till death do you part?" the priest asked. Kululu smiled. It was a good thing Kululu was a popular name, thanks to him being the Demon King.

"I do, but with a revision," he told him.

"Revision?" the priest asked.

"Death will never part us. So I take Mois to be my wife for as long as the universe continues. Even if it's reset time and time again, she'll be my wife. I'll always love her," he spoke. He knew she loved romance. She smiled, the sappiness touching her heart.

"Mois, do you take Kululu the same way?" the priest asked.

"I do. I love you, Kululu," she told him. The two put the brand new gold wedding rings on each other's fingers.

"You may kiss then," said the priest.

 _I didn't need permission from you._ Kululu kept his thoughts in his head instead of yelling at the priest. He grabbed Mois, dipped her and kissed her quite passionately.

The priest waited several minutes for them to stop so Kululu could be on his way to their honeymoon.

* * *

The honeymoon was perfect bliss. Kissing, lovemaking, living together in their new house they'd made away from the war, all for six blissful months.

It was something Kululu wished could go on forever. And he honestly felt quite mad when he was reminded that the war was still a thing.

At least he knew Mois was his now, and that she'd forever be his wife.

* * *

"When Kululu returned, he still disappeared for weeks on end to some mysterious place, ditching me!" Tamama told Keroro. "During one of his disappearances I took matters into my own hands and met with the humans. It was too hard to fight with them, too."

* * *

The Nishizawa newlyweds looked at Tamama, confused why they were meeting a young child who claimed to be the Demon King's apprentice, instead of meeting the Demon King himself.

"You want to make a contract," they said again, "so that we can align in a treaty?"

"And we'll only possess you guys for two years to give you a fighting chance! We can bring a new age!" Tamama told them.

They could tell Tamama was very young and not the brightest. They smiled. They could probably get all the things they wanted out of this contract if they could con him.

"All right. Let's form it," they told him.

And the Nishizawa Contract was formed. Not by Kululu's hand, but by Tamama's.

* * *

"You what?" Kululu had screamed at Tamama. "You formed a contract with the humans?" He was horrified. They had probably trampled all over Tamama to make unfair things happen in the contract, benefiting the humans more than the demons, just as Kululu had used Tamama himself.

"All the demons, like it, don't worry! They're going to be super proud of me!" Tamama was proud, too.

Kululu looked closely at the contract. It was lucky for him that the humans were as stupid as Tamama. He could see lots of loopholes and ways to revise this contract before putting his official signature on it.

Still... making a contract with the humans so that both parties could fight against the angels seemed like a good idea... And if the demons liked it, it would be good...

 _When this is over, I'll take the credit for this for myself,_ Kululu decided. He didn't want to tell Tamama it had been a good idea, because honestly, he hated it. The contract's loophole only let him come back every thousand years, which just seemed unfair.

Not to mention, he had a baby coming, and with this contract in place, he'd only be able to see his child every millennium.

 _I hate Tamama,_ he decided. The kid was a brat!

* * *

"I made the Nishizawa contract," Tamama confessed. "Sure, Kululu revised it and kept it going after the war, but it was my brilliant idea and my negotiating skills that got it going! But nobody ever knows that! He took the credit all for himself!" he cried.

Keroro was shocked. Tamama, of all people, had made the sacred Nishizawa contract? So... Tamama had pretty much managed the entire demons' side of the war.

At least Kululu had killed the Messenger of Death in the end though.

* * *

"I eventually formed the Nishizawa Contract with the humans. They thought they could make things unfair between our peoples, but I quickly revised their contract," Kululu explained.

Dororo looked sad. The Demons had ended up being the ones with unfair advantages.

" _Kululu...? Where was your wife and child during all this?_ " Fuyuki finally asked, confused.

"It's not important," Kululu told him, speaking aloud again. Dororo and Koyuki looked at him oddly.

* * *

Although he was still angry at Tamama, Kululu left another war council meeting to go to town and buy some baby supplies. They would need all sorts of things for the child Mois recently told him that they'd be having, which apparently had been there for a while now. He didn't understand how it worked, but he couldn't help but feel a sort of fatherly excitement at the whole thing.

"What are you doing here?" a demon with large horns and blond hair asked, seeing his bag filled with various baby toys.

He recognized him as the younger brother of his adviser, Garuru. _Uh-oh... This could be bad if he tells Garuru._

"Thinking 'bout the Nishizawa Contract," Kululu told him. "I thought I might as well bring the Nishizawas some gifts for negotiating with me."

Giroro frowned. "I did hear the Nishizawa lady is pregnant," he recalled. "But... do we really need a contract with the humans? We should fight with our own power. I know we've been losing, but if we just fight harder..."

"That's a stupid sentiment," Kululu shot down.

"But this contract is stupid! Let's take the bodies honestly, and with a warrior's spirit!" Giroro's honor felt damaged.

Kululu agreed, but he had to pretend he didn't. "No. This is better for our societies. War doesn't get any advancements in society. Peace does. Even if it is an uneasy peace." He couldn't believe whathe was saying.

Giroro frowned. He still didn't like it.

* * *

"What was the night like, preparing for the final battle?" Dororo asked curiously. "How did you learn of the angels' plot to destroy us all, so you could play your mind games with the Messenger of Death?"

"Ah... That's easy. I still had my ability to read their language. I intercepted a letter explaining their plan," Kululu explained.

* * *

Really, he had discovered Mois crying one day. It had been a long war council meeting and he had returned hoping to see her, but instead she lay crying in bed.

"Wh-what's wrong?" he asked. He rushed up to her and cradled in his arms.

"I—I went to the war council meeting the other angels were having..." she said. The two of them had both decided it would make things less suspicious if they attended their own war council meetings and gathered information on where not to be. "And... the final battle is tomorrow."

Kululu didn't understand. He had thought this was a good thing. No war meant he and Mois could live in peace. He had known the humans and demons had grown antsy and had finally declared that tomorrow, the anniversary of the tenth year of the war, both sides would go full power at each other.

"And...?" he asked, trying to get more.

"The angels have requested that I do the finishing blow, as the Messenger of Death. They know I have the strongest destruction powers, and we've finally found the line between dimensions that would eliminate a single species on this plane entirely. I just need to be at the right place and use my powers. Then, in a single flash, all the demons will die," she told him. "They've asked me to truthfully be their leader, and if I refuse... another angel will just take my place and do it instead."

She sobbed some more. "Why did I ever think this was going to work out between us? I was so stupid... So selfish... Our love was doomed from the very beginning." She cried some more.

Kululu held her, stroking her cheek. He brought her face up to his and kissed it sweetly.

"Then do it. Kill us all," he told her. "There's nothing to be frightened of." His voice was calm. "I'm ready to die for you... Long ago, I was afraid of dying at the hands of the person I loved, but now... At your hands, I would gladly die. So kill me and the rest of the demons and purify this plane. Then live on with our child - "

Mois glared at him. "Don't you see, Kululu? The baby is half demon! If I kill all of the demons, the baby will die too!" she sobbed. "No matter what happens, the baby is fated to die."

Kululu's eyes widened in shock. This... couldn't be. He held her, as her body shook in tears. Eventually, he started crying too, holding his angel wife tightly.

 _For a moment, I really believed that we could have a child together and it could work... But... It can't, can it?_ he realized.

Mois looked up at him as he cradled her body. She wiped off her tears, surprised to see him crying, too. "Don't worry, Kululu," she finally told him. She entwined their fingers together and smiled at him. "I have a plan!" She blinked away her tears. "Just play along and you won't die, okay?"

Kululu nodded.

"This is strange... This has been the first time I haven't wanted to kill someone and wanted to save their life instead." She laughed. "I suppose I'm not as bloodthirsty as everyone tells me I am. You changed me, Kululu. Even now I'm experiencing new things with you. Thank you."

Kululu kissed her. "And you'll experience many more."

Mois was silent.

"What can I do to help?" he asked her.

"Kiss me. Hold me. Make love to me like it's the last day we'll live. Because if something goes wrong, it might be," she begged him.

He obeyed her command.

* * *

"You all know how the story ends, of course," Kululu told them. "I went to the head of the battlefield to talk to the Messenger of Death. She explained to me how she could destroy any species in one full swoop in this dimension. I played mind games with her until she accidentally destroyed all the angels, and when she fell, I crushed her body in cold blood. Ku, ku, ku. And that's how I won the war!" Kululu finished his story.

Crickets greeted him, at the silence of his bloody and horrifying story. The angels were evil, true, but Kululu was also pretty messed up.

Of course, they had no idea how it had really gone.

* * *

The eleventh hour drew near and Kululu approached Mois on the battlefield. She floated in the sky, her wings spread out.

"Good luck," he whispered to his wife.

"It means nothing," she told him coldly. "Demon. I have found the dimensional rift in this plane. At the moment, any species on here is mine to eliminate, no matter where they may be in other dimensions, or where they're from. Thankfully, all the forces are right here, making the death I inflict even quicker... Painless." Mois spoke calmly and grimly.

"Just get it over with," Kululu told her. He didn't know what her plan was.

"I suppose karma really will come for the most evil being in the universe. The most bloodthirsty of them all, the person on this battlefield who has killed the most," she spoke.

Suddenly the wheels in Kululu's head started turning. She wasn't talking about him being bloodthirsty and evil - she was talking about herself!

 _She knows it's either the demons or the angels... That's her plan... She's going to eliminate the angels to save me, because our baby won't be able to live either way._ Kululu's eyes widened.

"No! You can't!" he screamed. The bystanders in the distance saw Kululu's shock as just another of his sick mind games instead of honest distress and begging her to rethink.

"I can," she said.

"Please rethink this! Please! Don't do this! Will you even be able to?" She'd die, too, if she did that. How could the extermination of the angels complete if she herself was eliminated?

Who would reset things and purify the universe if the angels were gone?

"Don't do it... Don't do it, Mois..." he begged, tears coming from his eyes.

"Watch me, please." In a single moment, she waved her staff and cut the dimension, eliminating the species she chose to die.

The shock on the angels' faces was evident as they fell out of the sky and died. Mois fell as well, and Kululu caught her.

"Please... Please be alive!" he begged. Mois was breathing, but he could tell her breathing was getting shallow. All of the other angels were dead, and she wasn't long for this world, too. He caressed her face, trying to get her to keep her eyes open.

"K-Kululu... Listen to me..." she begged. "Angels... are an immortal species. The universe resets us in case we die. So... someday, I'll return to you. I'll reincarnate," she told him. Kululu listened closely to her last words. "Wait for me, please... because I'll be waiting for you."

Kululu nodded as her last words finished, and he embraced her tightly. To all the demons on the battlefield, however, it looked like he was crushing her.

He cried and cried over his wife's dead body.

* * *

"What was the messenger of death's final words?" Koyuki asked.

"Eh, nothing important. Maybe, curse you kids and your dog! or something, ku, ku, ku," said Kululu. The prophecy of the angels coming back was something for just him to know. He didn't need anyone hunting her down.

"So... why'd you lock yourself in your castle for a thousand years after that?" Dororo asked curiously. He remembered that time of mourning in the demon realm. It had been the quietest Kululu had ever been in his life.

"I was partying over the good job I did," Kululu lied.

" _Oh... It's because you were mourning your wife... wasn't it?_ " Fuyuki realized. So that was where his wife fit into this tale!

Kululu didn't answer.

* * *

He just kept on crying and crying. One of the bad things about being a Demon King was the unlimited power, so his tears never truly stopped.

 _I bet it was Rinono's fault,_ he finally decided, blaming the person least involved with the war. _She told me that whoever loved me would die and leave me, and it turned out to be true! I should have known that her demon powers were those over curses._

He hated his sister so much more now that he felt the pain she had felt.

Eventually, though, he realized it hadn't been his sister's fault. _No... mine and Mois's love was doomed from the start... I shouldn't have ever developed feelings for her. It was only going to hurt me._

He couldn't have helped it, though.

He continued mourning, for a thousand years.

Finally after a thousand years, he was allowed to take another host body. He didn't really want to, but he knew he would die without the human energy.

 _Wait..._ He remembered what Mois had said about reincarnation. If he took a host, he could start looking for her! She could be alive again!

Those words were the only thing that got him out of bed. They were the only thing that gave him any hope for the future, and quickly became his driving force for taking hosts.

"I will find you, my angel. No matter what," he promised.

She'd be reunited with him eventually, right?

* * *

"So what happened after the war ended? How'd... How'd Kululu take all the credit from you?" Keroro finally asked.

"He didn't want me to expose his secret that I had been the one who helped him because he was ditching. So he betrayed me," Tamama told him.

* * *

"You promised me a reward!" Tamama yelled at Kululu.

"No. Nobody deserves a reward," Kululu hissed. "But I suppose you could talk..." Instead of giving Tamama fame and fortune, though, Kululu instead stripped him of all his money and his house.

He even killed his family, orphaning him and sending him to the lowest class of demon society so that nobody would believe anything that came out of Tamama's mouth.

And nobody did. So eventually, Tamama just gave up in telling them the truth. He was alone, with only his hatred to guide him.

* * *

"Nobody believed the injustice I had been dealt because I was of the lowest class, thanks to him. So... I stopped talking about it. But I've found him again and can finally punch his face!" Tamama growled.

"I... I am so sorry. I had no idea." Keroro gave Tamama's hand a squeeze. "If it matters to you, you told me, and I believe you."

Tamama smiled. That did matter to him.

"And I know firsthand how bad it is to not have a family," Saburo told him, having listened in on his story.

"Don't interrupt my time with Keroro!" Tamama yelled. Saburo drifted to the back of his mind, letting Keroro come back.

"Want me to carry you back to camp?" Keroro offered.

"I'd love that!" Tamama agreed. Keroro picked him up and carried him, bridal style.

* * *

Meanwhile, Momoka got a call on her phone. She picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hello. This is the agent you sent to massacre that town." The pretend angel had called her. Momoka's stomach twisted into a knot.

"Y-yes?" she asked hesitantly.

"The mission was not successful. When I got to town, it had already been destroyed. No survivors. Must have been some monster," the man told her.

Momoka was confused. But the news crews were all there right now about the angel letter! If... her soldier hadn't put it there... Who had?

Who had destroyed the town?

It couldn't really have been an angel, could it?

She didn't know.

 _Oh, Fuyuki... I hope you're safe.  
_

* * *

 **Please review!**


	20. Watermelons

**Thinking back on it, the whole issue with Natsumi's disappearance and Fuyuki wondering whether or not she was dead could have easily been solved if she'd brought along a phone when she ran away.**

 **-Scissors**

* * *

Kululu was a good liar. He was good at making up stories and exaggerating things at great lengths. Unfortunately, perhaps he was _too_ good of a liar, because the next day, Koyuki and Dororo were too afraid to speak to him.

"I know he made the Messenger of Death seem like a freak and a monster," Koyuki whispered to Dororo, "but he _tortured_ her until she cried! And then crushed her in cold blood! I don't care how evil the angels were, because I think I'm starting to sound justified in siding with them, if _that's_ the guy the demons followed during the war." She crossed her arms.

Dororo scratched the back of his neck. "Honestly, I'm afraid I can't blame you…."

Of course, the demons hadn't followed Kululu during the war, because Kululu hadn't _done_ anything during the war. That was all Tamama.

"Yay! Thanks for carrying me all the way back to camp, Mr. Keroro!" Tamama thanked Keroro that morning. He leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek of gratitude.

In Keroro's shock, he accidentally dropped him.

"OWW!" Tamama groaned. His ankle had swollen completely after it cracked yesterday night. "Who knew being a mortal could be so _painful_!"

"Sorry, but that's what you get for making such a brash decision." Keroro put his cloak under Tamama's ankle again. "I'm sure glad I'm not mortal!"

"Rub it in, why don't you," Tamama pouted. "I did it to save you!"

"Hey, where have you two been all night?" Koyuki asked them curiously.

"Writhing in pain." Tamama pointed to his ankle.

She winced. "Ouch. Is it broken? Hold on, I think I might have something for that…." As she dug through her bag, she told them, "You two were real lucky you weren't here last night. Kululu told the scariest story ever."

Tamama rolled his eyes. "Too bad I don't care."

"It was about how he won the war!" Koyuki picked out some things and started treating Tamama's wound. "Did you know, Tamama, that Kululu tortured the Messenger of Death until she cried?"

"That's bull. He never even tortured her. I'm pretty sure they were in cahoots the whole time," he spat without thinking.

Koyuki and Dororo looked at him in shock. "That's absurd, Tamama," Dororo told him. "You weren't even there. You were probably too young to remember the war. And if there's one thing I know about Kululu, it's that the Messenger of Death was his worst hated enemy. Everyone knows that."

"Owe, the Messingerr of Dith was his worst heted enermy," Tamama repeated in a mocking voice. "Where is that loser right now?"

"Dead."

"No, I meant Kululu!" he yelled.

"Oh, he left to go make Fuyuki bathe," she said.

Tamama cracked his knuckles. He would tear that guy another, if his leg wasn't in so much pain. How dare that egomaniac start making up stories again about how he won the war! TAMAMA was the one who did everything!

 _Worst-hated enemy…. What bullshit. Although… maybe it WAS torture that he was doing in those tents with her. I did hear a lot of screaming. …No, I think I know what it was. Although I wish I didn't._ Tamama wanted to barf. But as he thought more about this, it started dawning on him. The inns… the tents… how irresponsible Kululu was in general. Tamama started thinking back to all his memories of the war. Now that he was older, things were starting to make sense. Now he was beginning to realize that on the final day where the Messenger of Death walked out onto the battlefield, that _hadn't_ been a giant watermelon she was carrying under her shirt.

 _Ew! Gross! He babied her up? The Messenger of Death?_ Tamama mentally shrieked. That had been no watermelon, but a womb nugget!

Kululu had probably never taken the war seriously even _once_! What was he doing instead? Boning angels.

 _I hope somebody kills him,_ Tamama wished. But then… he got a better idea. _Wait a second. Keroro believes me now._

Tamama grinned.

* * *

When Fuyuki returned, Kululu was surprised to see Tamama motion him aside so they could talk. "I hate traveling. There are no candy shops in the forest. I want you to make me an invention that will produce a limitless amount of sweets," he said. "And after that, I want you to make me the most amazing invention ever that I can pass off as my own and become rich."

Kululu just laughed at him. "I'm afraid you're still asleep." He started to walk off.

"Not so fast!" Tamama grabbed him by the edge of Fuyuki's shirt. He said a bit quieter, "I know about the affair."

Kululu froze in his tracks, inwardly cursing Tamama's mental development. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said.

"Yes you do." Tamama grinned. "And you can't keep me quiet any longer. Mr. Keroro and I were talking all last night about your shenanigans. I could tell him about this, too." His eyes narrowed. "I could tell him about the watermelon."

Kululu scratched Fuyuki's head. Now he _really_ didn't know what he was talking about.

" _Kululu, what's Tamama talking about?_ "

"Hell if I know!" Kululu mentally responded.

" _No, I mean about the affair_."

"Oh. Um… I have no clue."

"How long did you expect you could get away with this?" Tamama asked him. "Without anyone finding out? Ten thousand years? Fifteen thousand? Can't be any more than that. Ohh, wait until Mr. Keroro hears."

Kululu started walking off again.

"Hey, Mr. Keroro!" Tamama shouted over Kululu. "You believe me about everything I said last night, right?"

"Of course I do, Tamama! It's pretty believable!" Keroro shouted back.

"See?" Tamama gave him a superior look. "You know just what would happen if Keroro found out? He'd flip. He'd tell all the other demons, and they'd believe him, because his horns make him just that charismatic. Then they'd all execute you. So unless you value your pathetic little life full of lies, you're gonna follow _my_ orders now."

Kululu thought a single word, clearly enough in his head for Fuyuki to hear.

" _Kululu!_ " Fuyuki scolded. " _I'd like to keep my mind clean of words like those, please!_ "

"Sorry," Kululu quickly apologized. "Honest accident. Uh… I gotta go."

"I want those inventions by tomorrow!" Tamama shouted as Kululu ran off.

* * *

Although he tried not to show it, Kululu was freaking out on the inside. Tamama held his fate in his fingertips. If he told Keroro about the affair, then all hell would break loose. Keroro would tell everyone, and they'd all believe him. Fuyuki certainly knew enough, since Kululu had foolishly confided in him, and Dororo would believe it, too, because he had probably overheard Kululu say something out loud about his wife back at the tech fair. He even suspected Keroro knew that wedding dress back in his house was angel fabric. Luckily, no one but Fuyuki knew that was Kululu's house. But if Tamama opened his mouth…

He was in a tight spot.

" _Um… Kululu?_ " Fuyuki asked. " _Why are you salvaging these machine parts? You're not actually going to do what Tamama wants, are you?_ "

Kululu didn't answer. They were at a site in the middle of the forest where an NPG copter had crashed a year or so back. Kululu had been lucky enough to come upon it. Currently he was stripping it of all its electronics.

As he reworked some of the technology, Fuyuki's heart pounded, but not by Fuyuki's command. He broke the silence by asking, " _What REALLY happened during the war? What are the things you're not saying?_ "

Kululu momentarily stopped building. He was a smart one, Fuyuki was. "I'm not quite sure what you mean," he lied.

" _Tell me what actually happened during the war. Where was the Demon Queen who you were going on and on about just a few months ago at the tech fair? Who you almost killed Dororo for when he bothered you on the anniversary of her death? Where was she during the war?_ " Fuyuki's tone darkened. " _Or were you not talking about the Demon Queen at all? Were you actually talking about some other person you had an affair with?_ "

"Uh…." Kululu drew this out.

" _No… you seem to have affairs with a lot of people_." Fuyuki thought harder. " _Knowing you, you probably flirt so much to distract yourself from your loss, from your sorrow. That was how the first affair started, wasn't it?_ "

Fuyuki was so calculative, so perceptive. Problem was, he was totally wrong. That actually suited Kululu's needs quite perfectly.

"It seems you've seen through my lies, Fuyuki," Kululu said with a hint of a smile. "I suppose I'll have to tell you the truth now that you know. The Messenger of Death came and assassinated the Demon Queen toward the end of the war, and after I had gotten my revenge on her, I turned to other people to sexually comfort me." He moved his hands in the gesture of a rainbow. "The more you know."

It was partly true. The Messenger of Death _was_ the one who killed Kululu's wife. Of course, they were the same person.

Fuyuki was surprised to hear what Kululu made up. If the Messenger of Death was the one who killed the Demon Queen, that explained why Kululu had made the thoughtless decision to murder the pregnant angel with his bare hands. He just hadn't been thinking. It had only been when he saw the Messenger of Death's skeleton that he finally felt remorse at his decision after ten thousand years. It also explained his seriousness in dealing with potential angel threats—his hatred toward their species was personal. There was just one thing he still didn't understand.

" _So, why was the Messenger of Death pregnant?_ " he asked. " _How did that happen?_ "

Kululu began to give the usual explanation. "Well, when two people love each other very much…."

" _Noooooo! That's not what I meant!_ " Fuyuki clarified.

He chuckled. "In that case, I don't know what to tell you. I didn't even know the Messenger of Death was pregnant myself. Where'd you hear this?"

" _It was that skeleton_ ," said Fuyuki. " _That was the Messenger of Death, wasn't it?_ "

"Nope," Kululu quickly shot down. "Ku ku ku. What, did you see a _sign_ or something? 'HERE LIES THE MESSENGER OF DEATH, FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DIDN'T KNOW.' "

Fuyuki was quiet. He supposed he'd been wrong, then. He did have the tendency to jump to conclusions.

" _Even so, Kululu_ ," he told him, " _even if you were sad about your wife's death, it's still wrong to go out and… have affairs with other people. It's just disloyal to your wife. Do you really think that's what real love should be like?_ " Fuyuki knew that Kululu had a problem. As his host, it was his job to set him on the right track.

"Okay, you got me. I'll stop," Kululu promised. _You could say, easier done than said? KU KU KU! That was a good one. Wait till Mois hears—Oh. Oh yeah._

" _That's good. I'm sure your wife_ —"

"I'll make you a cell phone if you shut up," Kululu bargained. He didn't want to think anymore about his dead wife.

" _Um, okay_ ," Fuyuki agreed.

* * *

Giroro was in a tight spot.

He loved Natsumi. Of course he did. That would never stop. But she was going down a dark path. He desperately wanted to tell her his suspicion about the destruction of Lichte, how it was probably an angel impersonating a human. But he knew that if he did, the path she was taking just might grow darker, as she'd likely turn against humanity, as well.

He needed some way to protect her from herself, but at the same time, he needed to keep the demons safe. Honestly he had no idea _what_ to do. Where did his loyalties lie? With the demons? With Natsumi? He was so conflicted.

All he knew for sure was that if he didn't do something about this, and fast, then Dororo and Keroro were going to be executed at her hands. He couldn't turn his back on two of his friends.

He just sighed, running his hand through his bangs as he sat beside Natsumi in an NPG copter. After Natsumi called up Momoka and requested to be taken back to her hometown, the Nishizawa corporation provided them with transportation, to act as if they were on Natsumi's side. Normally Natsumi wouldn't have minded traveling back to town on foot, but she had some urgent business to take care of.

"I think I'll make my announcement at the school first," Natsumi was saying next to him. "I've already exorcised all the demons from the kids there, so they should be more than happy to join me in my army. Then I'll go to the NPG and gather more soldiers there with the help of Momoka."

"Natsumi…" Giroro finally spoke up.

"Once we have a large enough army, we can split off a faction and send it to investigate which demon it was that impersonated an angel and destroyed Lichte. Then we should probably—"

"Natsumi!" Giroro yelled to get her attention. She finally started listening to him. "This…. This is wrong. Let's not do this."

"Not—Not do what?" She gave a nervous laugh.

"Killing demons. Especially in this way." He narrowed his eyes. "You need to think this through, Natsumi. All this time, I've been going along with you, staying silent, but this is too far."

"But—But they're _demons_ , Giroro!" she insisted. "Demons are evil!"

"I'M a demon, in case you haven't noticed!" he shouted.

"You're the exception, though…."

"No. No, I'm not." He shook his head. "Natsumi, what you're planning to do isn't even just killing demons. It's killing human kids, too. Kids just like yourself."

Natsumi was starting to stare at her feet on the floor of the helicopter.

"You've changed, Natsumi. This person who blindly kills demons… she's not the warrior princess I fell in love with two years ago."

She did not respond to this.

"I know you're angry about the lies that society puts in place thanks to the Nishizawa contract. I know you feel gypped and insulted, since humans got the short end of the stick. I, for once, was never in favor of the silly thing. Ten thousand years ago, demons were much more honorable. Instead of gaining hosts from rituals and lies, we fought them honestly." He clenched his fists. "It was the Demon King who changed things. He was the one who encouraged everyone to start taking more hosts than necessary. Because of him, the entire process of hosting was—"

"I'll start with exterminating the Demon King from my brother, then," Natsumi cut in. "If we can kill the Demon King, the rest of demonkind will lose their spirit. He's the most powerful demon of them, after all. His death will be a symbol for the war."

"Y-You can't be serious about this…" Giroro groaned. "Natsumi, I honestly don't know how much longer I can go on supporting this."

"Wh-what?" Natsumi sounded shocked. "But, Giroro… I need you." She squeezed his hand. "This movement would be nothing without you."

Like _that_ cheered him up.

* * *

After they arrived back at town, Natsumi asserted herself to the school, and after she gained their support, the two of them headed to the Nishizawa manor, where they sought out Momoka.

She was easy to find. Paul greeted them and directed them to which room she was in.

"Momoka!" Natsumi rushed to her and took a seat beside her, Giroro following despairingly. "There's something urgent I need to ask of you."

Momoka tried to hide her shaking hands beneath the table. "Y-yes? What is it, Natsumi?"

She cut straight to the chase. "I need you to exorcise the Demon King from my brother."

"Wh-What? But YOU have the—"

"I don't have the staff anymore," she admitted. "On our journey, I ran into Kululu, and he changed the staff to a pocketwatch and took it from me. But I don't need it anymore. As Giroro said, it's not the staff that makes me who I am. It's me."

"Well, we don't exactly have the _ability_ to exorcise demons," Momoka tried to tell her.

Natsumi shrugged. "I'm sure you can come up with something. Some sort of advanced Nishizawa technology to exorcise the Demon King."

That wouldn't do. If Kululu was exorcised, then Momoka would never be able to enact Phase 4 of the plan, formulating a new Nishizawa Contract with the Demon King. "And… the rest of the demons?" She forced a smile.

"I'm already working on it," Natsumi assured her. "I've already gained the support of all the people from school. With the help of your soldiers, we'll create the toughest army of humans around. Those demons will be gone in no time!"

"But without the staff—" Momoka clamped her hand over her mouth to keep from gagging. "You're not planning to…. Oh god…. Children are going to _die_ , Natsumi!"

"Many people will," she agreed. "It will probably amount to months of bloodshed. But think about all the humans the demons have killed. We'll be protecting so many people for the future of this world."

Momoka could only just think about Lichte, and all the teens that had died due to the H.A.D. movement. She couldn't believe what Natsumi had become.

"So… just think about what to do for that exorcism machine." Natsumi pat her on the back. "If things work out, we should even be able to use it for the rest of humanity. So no one would die." Well, no humans.

She left the room with a very sickened Giroro, abandoning Momoka to her shock.

She already had the possible angel threat to worry about in Lichte. Now there was this…. She felt nausea stir inside of her.

"Paul, get me the bucket," she requested.

"Yes, Mistress." Paul fetched the bucket. It was a pretty normal thing nowadays.

* * *

The truth of the matter was, Kululu honestly did want to just spill everything to Fuyuki. It wasn't that his guilt for the war was too much for him to bear; rather, it had been so long since he had someone worthwhile to talk to. Even though Fuyuki jumped to a lot of conclusions and was still pretty narrow-minded with his fourteen-year-old human mind, he was still a good kid. He seemed to be interested in a lot of stuff, some neat, some silly. He probably wouldn't have minded Kululu droning on about the angels to him. And it had been so long since he'd had someone to vent to. He needed to get all his emotional stress from the year out. But turning to Fuyuki was too risky.

He just wanted someone to talk to.

When Kululu arrived back at camp, he angrily plopped the inventions for Tamama by Tamama's feet. "Tch. There," he spat. Everyone was shocked at what just happened. "But I'm not doing anything else for you."

"I believe that's for me to decide," Tamama said coolly. "You'll also be my personal butler. Since I can't walk, you'll have to carry me."

"This isn't fair to Fuyuki," Kululu told him.

Fuyuki was flattered that Kululu was thinking about him. Really, Kululu just wanted an excuse out of this.

"Strange how life is unfair, huh?" Tamama retorted.

Kululu stayed silent, not wanting to drag any more attention to him.

He sneaked away from Tamama and pulled something out of his pocket to deal with the next annoyance in his life. "Okay, it's done, Fuyuki," he told him. "I already hacked into your internet accounts and downloaded your previous cell phone's information. Only thing different with this one is that we can't be tracked through satellites."

"Nice," said Fuyuki, taking control.

" _I also made a charger. Ku ku ku… good luck finding an outlet in the middle of the forest, though_."

"That's okay." Fuyuki started looking through his contacts. "I think I know _exactly_ who to call."

"Wait, why does _he_ get a cell phone?" Tamama whined. "I want one, too!"

Fuyuki pressed the cell phone to his ear, listening to the ringing. Finally, someone picked up on the other end.

"Hello?" asked Momoka.

"Momoka! It's me!" Fuyuki smiled widely.

"Fuyuki? No way! Thank god you're safe…."

"It's been so long since I've heard from you, Momoka…. How are you doing?"

"Not so good, Fuyuki. I'll tell you in a second. How's Tamama?"

"Mortal," he said, stealing a glance at the jealous demon.

"What?"

"I don't really understand it, either. Also, I think he broke his ankle."

Momoka let out a gasp. "Oh, no!"

"But—But the rest of us are doing fine!" he assured her. "We bumped into Sis the other day and Kululu took her staff away and turned it into a pocketwatch somehow…."

"Oh geez. He really shouldn't have."

"What?" Fuyuki was confused, but so was Kululu.

"I met with your sister earlier today, Fuyuki. And we've got some bad news on our hands, I'm afraid. Natsumi is planning a full-on revolution against demons. Which will entitle slaughtering teens who are currently hosting demons."

"She's going to kill teens who are hosting demons?"

"Yes. Kids could die at her hands. So please…. Even if she doesn't intend to kill you personally, Fuyuki… stay safe. She's got something different planned for you. She wants the Nishizawa corporation to invent exorcism technology to eradicate the Demon King from your body."

" _Fuyuki, ask her why she's telling us_ ," Kululu instructed.

"Kululu wants to know why you would let him know this," said Fuyuki. "S-sorry, it's just…. You're, like, the second person we've come across who doesn't want to kill him."

"I can't." Momoka explained, "He's crucial to my operation counter to your sister's. We would like to formulate a new contract with the Demon King in order to prevent this oncoming war."

" _Ku ku ku…. Well it's about time_."

"Please, don't come to town…. I'll probably meet with you later, in secret…. But do stay safe, all of you… you and Saburo especially." He could hear Momoka's voice shaking on the other line. "And beware of monsters. There was a town… Lichte… that was pillaged by some horrible monster."

"We were there just two months ago," Fuyuki whispered. His hand was shaking, as well. "I thought it was humans… killing other humans…."

"Dear god, I wish," Momoka said quietly. Fuyuki just barely made her out.

 _What does she mean by that?_ he wondered.

"You stay safe, too," he begged her, knowing that if something went wrong, people'd have her head. "I…. I miss you."

"I miss you, too." On the other end, Momoka took a deep breath. "Fuyuki, just in case this is the end… and I might never see you again… I just wanted to tell you that I… I…"

"Yes?" Fuyuki knew what was coming. He had been imagining this conversation for the past few months now. Momoka was going to confess her love for him.

"I… I lo—I'm not afraid of you anymore."

"Wait… what?" His heart sank.

"Kululu tried to strangle me?" she reminded him.

"Well… that's good that you're not afraid of me anymore." He gave a nervous laugh. "Honestly, I thought you were going to say—"

"KAY BYE!" Momoka hung up.

Fuyuki just stared dumbfoundedly at his phone. "Momoka sure is weird."

"So… um… what did she say?" asked Keroro.

"Oh. Real bad news." He became serious again. "Apparently, my sister's gonna start this revolution against teens with demons or something. Which means that kids like you are going to be killed, Saburo."

"What?" Saburo took control now. "Your sister would actually do such a thing, Fuyuki?"

He nodded solemnly.

"Th-that can't be!" Saburo looked afraid for once. He paced, messed with his hair, widened his eyes. Fuyuki had never seen him in such a state.

He felt bad for all the teens.

* * *

Everyone took Momoka's warning seriously. In the next few days, Dororo and Koyuki trained together. He showed her assassin fighting style, and she shared some of her own tricks, as well, having had to defend herself against monsters for most of her life. Even Zeroyasha trained. Tamama still had to let his ankle heal up, so instead he used the power of blackmail to boss around Kululu, making him do absurd, humiliating tasks that everyone had a good laugh at but will not ever actually be addressed. They were too funny to be put in words; you just had to be there.

Saburo was the only one who wasn't doing anything. He was still in a fit of confusion. He didn't want to die. Several months ago, he would have been willing to give up his soul to Keroro, due to his depression after the hosting mix-up. But now, he wanted to live. He had to.

"What are we going to do…. What are we going to do…!" he asked himself.

" _We could just hide_ ," Keroro suggested. " _Like we're doing now_."

"We could," Saburo agreed. But how long would that ensure their safety? Taking precautions was too risky. Anyway, the makeshift hut they had built was holding decently, and it was good that they had built it _after_ winter, but would it survive the rest of the seasons?

No, he knew what had to happen. He had to get Keroro to be the next demon to give up his immortality.

He quickly planned out a list of possible means to get Keroro to become mortal. _Let's see… Dororo gave up his for revenge against Kululu, Giroro gave up his to be with Natsumi, Tamama gave up his to save Keroro… Yeah. The last one might work._

He set up a trap by a cliffside for Tamama to walk into, then placed a large beetle on the trap. As Tamama was walking by with his crutch made from a stick, he became distracted by the beetle and hobbled after it. When he got close enough, the beetle flew off, and the rocks beneath him began to give way.

 _All right, Keroro, do your thing!_ Saburo watched, waiting for Keroro to leave his body.

Instead, Tamama, realizing he was falling, simply snapped his fingers and Kululu came running to his rescue.

Kululu attempted briefly to lift Tamama from the tumbling rocks, but he dropped him. "Oh dear. Seems Fuyuki's too weak. Guess you're gonna die, Tamama. Ku ku ku!"

"Oh no!" yelled Keroro. "Somebody had better do something!" He looked around for anyone that could help Tamama, without realizing that he could, _in_ Saburo's body.

Tamama took a big gulp of air. "EVERYONE KULULU LIED ABOUT THE WAR AND IT TURNS OUT HE WAS HAVING AN AF—"

Before he could say anything more, Kululu's horns burst out of his head and caught Tamama just as he started to fall.

 _Darn it_ , Saburo cursed.

He tried other methods. He tried to convince him that he couldn't be fabulous without a physical form of his own. He tried to pretend like Keroro looked more fabulous than Saburo and he should let all the other humans know. But Keroro just said "Everyone on the demon realm knows I'm fab" and that was that.

He tried showing Keroro that, unless he got a physical form of his own, he could never properly romance Tamama. However, Keroro did not want to do this, and Kululu was already trying to set Tamama and Keroro up, per Tamama's request.

So next he tried showing Keroro that, unless he got a physical form of his own, Tamama wouldn't leave him alone. He pretended like Tamama only liked Keroro for Saburo's looks. But Keroro just said "Nah, everyone on the demon realm knows I'm fab" again.

He tried many things. But the problem always came down to the same thing: Keroro was simply too dumb and lucky to fall for anything. But Saburo tried and tried again, because he was determined. He would _not_ lose his life to an army of teen-haters.

It was through these events that several more months rolled by the group—Dororo, Koyuki, and Zeroyasha trained; Saburo tried to get Keroro to give up his immortality; Fuyuki chatted _constantly_ on the phone with Momoka; Tamama tortured Kululu with menial and embarrassing tasks. "He kind of deserves it, after all the freaky stuff he did during the war," Dororo and Koyuki secretly agreed.

The hut at their campsite did eventually collapse, and they ran out of food and supplies, so the group was forced to head back to Lichte and use some of the empty homes there. They had never seen a more depressing spring. After winter, it seemed the bodies in Lichte had been decomposing quite well, but now they just looked like carcasses. Scavenging monsters and all sorts of fungi coated the town. After a couple of weeks, however, the town started smelling a lot less like death and a lot more like cherry blossom season.

The best part of the town was, there were no other people there, and they also had outlets so Fuyuki could charge his phone. And also Tamama, after he forced Kululu to make him one.

Eventually they decided they had to do something about the bodies, so they began carting them away to a mass burial site just outside of town, where they respectfully placed the cadavers in several rows and burned them. Soon the town was free of death.

Meanwhile, Natsumi developed her forces, and trained them for the war that was to come. As she did so, Giroro fretted about where his loyalties lay. Momoka also trained her forces—not to fight demons, but to act as fake angels. She wished she could see Fuyuki again. At least she could talk with him over the phone now.

Some things did not change for people. The strange girl Keroro met in the forest still longed to see Keroro again. She thought about him every day, and the more she did, the deeper in love she fell.

"I'll find you again someday, my Absolute True Love Prince from the Forest of True Love," she vowed as she stared off into the sunset, which had three rainbows surrounding it and dolphins jumping through the water. Well, at least in her mind, it did.

Finally, Fuyuki's birthday rolled around, and his group all got him a cake to celebrate. He blew out the candles and they all wished him a happy fifteenth.

"One year closer to being an adult," Saburo congratulated with a smile.

"One year closer to exploring the world!" Dororo said happily.

"One year closer to living on your own," Koyuki told him ironically.

"One year closer to smooching Momocchi!" Tamama giggled. Fuyuki blushed.

"One year closer to wearing a fancy hat like mine," Keroro posed.

Then Kululu had to ruin it all by joking, " _One year closer to being free of me, ku ku ku!_ "

Fuyuki just frowned deeply.

" _Oh. Right. I suppose that means you'll die…. Geez, I'm really not so good with birthdays. Sorry 'bout that, Fuyuki._ "

Everyone could guess what was going on as Fuyuki took a deep breath and released it. "How about we just eat cake?" he suggested with a smile.

He tried to genuinely enjoy the rest of the day, despite what Kululu had said now looming over him.

Everyone gave him presents they had either created or stolen from the town's stores. Even Kululu tried to give him an invention of some sort. But the best present Fuyuki got was at the end of the day, when Momoka was texting him. One of the texts she sent was unlike any other he'd seen: "*shy birthday kiss~*". Fuyuki just stared at his phone screen for minutes. Yeah, that was basically a love confession!

" _Well?_ " Kululu teased. " _What are you waiting for? Ain't ya gonna text her *shy kiss back~* or something? Don't leave her hanging, Fuyuki!_ "

Fuyuki was blushing. He shook his head. "I can't text under pressure!"

" _Don't text her anything, then_ ," Kululu suggested. " _Tell her nothing of your feelings. Ku ku ku. Not over the phone, at least. You'll be able to tell her in person the next time you see her._ "

"And then… you'll break us up," Fuyuki guessed.

" _Ku ku ku. Thanks for reminding me. That WAS on my bucket list!_ " he joked.

Fuyuki was shocked. In Kululu language, he realized this meant that Kululu would _allow_ Fuyuki to pursue a potential relationship—maybe… he was even encouraging it? That in itself was the strangest birthday present of all.

Perhaps he was trying to put him in a false sense of security. He was one year closer to the Demon Fight, after all, and Kululu had never lost to a single host.

* * *

 _This sucks,_ Kululu thought as he reflected on the year. Worst hosting ever, hands down! This was even worse than Kururuko's, where he died after just one year of freedom due to her terminal illness she'd stuck him with.

That was nothing compared to this millennium. Maybe it was something about Fuyuki. He didn't really know. But in the course of just one year, Kululu had been through way too much. He'd been forced to go through the horrors and lies of the Victory Festival, which celebrated a victory he didn't even want. His house had burned down around him. He's been blackmailed. He'd been humiliated. He'd gotten a bad grade on a human test. He had to haul carts of dead bodies across an entire town. He had to hike. He'd kissed a girl, even flirted with her, just because he thought she was someone else. He'd been targeted by several people who wanted to kill him. He'd seen the fossilized skeleton of his wife and unborn baby, then had to rebury it—he hadn't even gotten the chance to ever hold the kid; and now to think that the closest he'd come was to see its skeleton as he flung dirt over it…. Now he knew it would have had wings and a third eye, just like its mother. But he didn't really want to know that, let alone find out in _that_ manner.

And in the next year, either two things were going to happen. Either he would be exorcised, with science, if Natsumi got her way. Or, he would have to kill Fuyuki.

Honestly, he didn't want to. Fuyuki was a good kid. He had a promising life ahead of him. Kululu, not so much. As he'd gotten to know the boy more, he was starting to become pegged with guilt.

Pitying his host—Now _that_ was absurd. This was the last straw. Kululu was growing tired of fate torturing him.

If a war really was coming, perhaps it was time to get rid of their leader.

* * *

 **Sorry… you can really tell I sort of gave up on the ending of the chapter. I've been trying to make my chapters shorter.**

 **-Scissors**


	21. What's Up?

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **So this is the end of the second arc, and the end of Natsumi being an antagonist. Next chapter will be the third and final arc.**

* * *

Taking out the leader... or better known as taking out Natsumi.

Fuyuki wouldn't like that at all. Kululu knew he'd probably try to struggle against him if he tried to kill his sister, even if it was for the greater good, because his sister was a real piece of work.

Did they even know exactly where Natsumi was at the moment? If Kululu was going to try to take her out, he'd have to know her location.

While Fuyuki slept, Kululu poked Dororo with a stick to wake him up. He would have been the one he would have gone to with a job like this, in normal circumstances, after all.

"Hey, Dororo." He woke up the former assassin. Dororo rubbed his eyes and looked up. He jumped when he saw Kululu standing above him.

"I was trying to sleep." Dororo sounded irritated.

"Well sorry." Kululu faked sympathy. "But I have an important request for you," he said. "I need you to kill someone, Natsumi Hinata, before her war gets out of hand."

"I can't. I am no longer an assassin," Dororo told him, shaking his head. "And I would never harm Fuyuki's sister."

Kululu groaned in annoyance. Well, that was one plan out!

Would he just have to face her head-on in battle? Probably. He knew if things were really bad, he could probably rely on Mois's staff to scare the humans into obedience.

He was the Demon King. It wasn't like they stood a chance against him, anyway. But... for Fuyuki's sake, he was kind of hoping he wouldn't have to murder the poor guy's sister in front of him.

No... he could not afford to think of Fuyuki as a poor guy, or sympathize with him or even feel an ounce of friendship for him. It would prove to be a problem in one year.

Even so, he didn't want Fuyuki to have to see something harmful before that.

What a problem Fuyuki's life was!

* * *

Natsumi got some golden armor on. She didn't know where Fuyuki and the Demon King were hiding, and Koyuki had taken long enough. So she'd march her army and capture them alive.

It was time to stop sitting and waiting and to strike.

"Paul... we need to carry out the plan, now!" Momoka whispered to him as Natsumi got ready to address the people. "Get some of Phase Four to attack the city."

Paul nodded. "As you say, mistress."

Momoka would do anything to protect Fuyuki, and she knew Natsumi was about to make her move. Paul pressed a button as Natsumi went out to greet her army of soldiers.

"I have brought you all here today, because now is the time to strike against the demons. To find the Demon King and end him! To end the possession of our youths and the ignorant world they live in," Natsumi addressed the crowds.

Giroro stood by her side, not exactly sure what to do. If he had known that telling Natsumi about the Demon Fight and the secrets of society would lead to this war, would he have done it? She was killing his friends, his family, or at least she was planning to. Perhaps this was why it was against the law for demons to tell their hosts about the fight.

Because this might happen.

As Natsumi continued her speech, though, Giroro's thoughts were interrupted as the large sound of swooshing was heard above them.

Around ten winged human like creatures flew in the sky.

"Angels! Those are angels!" The people below Natsumi pointed up at them. They begin shivering, their resolve wavering.

 _No... not them! I don't want Natsumi's path to grow darker!_ He knew humans had probably set up these fake angels to stop Natsumi. And it was likely the perpetrator was in her flock of admirers right now. He had no idea that it was Momoka.

He tried to shoot them down before Natsumi could examine them closer. But they expertly flew away from his bullets.

Momoka, in the background, also pretended to be frightened. _The angels' orders are clear. Pillage and destroy everything in this town so that humans can once again be afraid of them._ She had given each angel a Nishizawa jet pack to make them appear as if they could fly.

Natsumi did not waver in the face of these new foes, though. She stared straight up at them. Soon, she bent down and grabbed a rock.

"HYAH!" She threw the rock at one of the angels. "These angels are no angels at all!" Natsumi told the people. "They are a trick made by the demons!"

 _No, they aren't. I'll attack the demons with them, too,_ Momoka reminded herself.

"So fight with you earnest!" Natsumi told them. The humans cheered as the angels started breathing flames over their houses (with the aid of hidden flamethrowers, of course). Once an angel got close enough to the ground, Natsumi slid toward them and begin kicking and punching with her full force, not backing down.

Giroro tried to fight some of the angels and throw them out of Natsumi's reach, but she eventually caught one of them because despite all the training Momoka's soldiers had gone through, Natsumi still beat them, quite easily too.

 _Well... there were only ten that I sent... That's to be expected,_ Momoka decided, still hopeful. The rest were still hidden away in training facilities, getting the best armor possible to become fake angels.

"See! This monster is no monster. It is a trick by the demons!" Natsumi tore off the angel wings, but to her shock, she did not see anything that would suggest that the thing she had beaten was a demon, but instead they were wearing jetpacks with an NPG logo.

 _Uh-oh,_ both Giroro and Momoka thought as Natsumi's face filled with despair at the realization that the angels weren't a demon trick, but instead a human one.

"I need to plan with my adviser," Natsumi told her army. "I'll be just a sec." She pulled Momoka into a room in the nearby building.

 _No... it wasn't just any human, but Natsumi's friend, too?_ Giroro realized with horror.

"Natsumi, uh... what happened?" Momoka tried to play dumb. Giroro clenched his fists. Natsumi had killed demons before. She was a killer now, so would she... end Momoka's life for betraying her?

Would she alienate herself from humans, as well?

"You know what happened, Momoka. Don't play dumb," Natsumi growled. "Those angels I beat were your doing. The rumor of the angels coming back? It's fake. You created it. I saw your company's technology all over that human..." Natsumi's face was filled with anger, but her cheeks were wet from tears at Momoka's betrayal.

Momoka slumped against the wall. Natsumi had found her out. She was as good as dead. "You can't go down this path, Natsumi. It's not going to end well for anyone," she told her. There was no chance of them winning against the demons. She knew that. They were at a natural disadvantage, and a war would just hurt them and take away all the progress they had made between the two races in the past ten thousand years.

"That's quitter talk! If we try... If we really try, we can win!" Natsumi punched a hole in the wall next to Momoka. "Why'd you do it, Momoka? You murdered humans... You had an entire town massacred for these fake angels to make their debut..."

Momoka looked down. She _had_ ordered that. "I'll become a murderer a thousand times over if it will keep Fuyuki safe from the atrocities his sister is committing."

"You idiot! I'm doing this _for_ Fuyuki! He only has a year left... If I don't do something, Kululu will kill him!" Natsumi yelled.

"Fuyuki's not like us. He can't bear to witness someone in pain. Even if it was Kululu. If you, or even I, killed Kululu in front of him, the emotional damage would be unrepairable," Momoka told her. "And I hate to say it, but there's a bigger picture besides Fuyuki. The demons won't stand by and just let you murder their king, and some day, it'll come and bite us in the butt... There are innocent demons that you're killing, too, and humans will die in this war!" Momoka tried to reason.

Natsumi punched Momoka, shaking her head. "There's no such thing as an innocent demon. I thought you were like me, and that you wanted to protect Fuyuki."

"WAIT!" Giroro yelled, grabbing her arm before she could punch an injured Momoka again. "D-don't... Don't kill her. Don't harm her. I can't bear to see you become an enemy of your own species." _Like I am to mine...A atraitor._

"I wasn't planning on killing her... She may have betrayed me completely, but I'm not going to kill Fuyuki's friend. I'll lock her up until the war's done." Natsumi picked up Momoka, dragged her to the jail cells, locked her up.

Giroro let out a sigh of relief. Natsumi wasn't plain insane or evil. She was just misguided. Maybe... Maybe if he had an honest talk with her, he could make her see things from his point of view.

"Were those the only fake angels, Paul?" Natsumi asked Momoka's butler. She trusted he'd see her as the new mistress in charge. The Nishizawa heiress, in a way, was no more now. She'd probably serve the rest of her life in imprisonment for her crimes.

"Yes," Paul lied. Natsumi nodded. One threat was out of the way, then.

"Now... I just need to figure out how to find the Demon King's group and the wandering demons he has with him..." Natsumi brushed off her hands. As she was wondering about this, Momoka's phone vibrated with a text from Fuyuki.

Natsumi grabbed it, since Momoka was in captivity. Turning it on, she saw the text.

 _How are things going there, Momoka?_ Fuyuki asked.

Natsumi smiled. She had found a way to contact Fuyuki. And she was sure he'd give up his location if "Momoka" asked to meet up with him.

* * *

Garuru had finally managed to scream loudly enough for help that one of the demons around him had managed to get him down from the castle walls, now that the Demon King was on the human plane. A lot of people had passed him by, but hadn't bothered to look up and realize "oh that's no animatronic!"

"So... I've heard from some people chatting under me, but who didn't decide to help me, that the humans are waging war on us?" Garuru drank some water and brushed himself off, freed from his torment, but still tired from it.

"Yes. They're trying to kill his Majesty," one of the demons told him.

His job, sadly was to protect the Demon King. But he hated Kululu and could care less if Kululu lived or died in this war. However, he suspected the humans were the ones who had killed his brother, Giroro.

And Giroro was way more important to him than his hatred of Kululu.

 _I'll put my vendetta against him aside, for revenge for you, lil bro,_ Garuru decided. "Listen up, demonkind!" Garuru announced. Standing on a stage, he broadcasted to demons all around. "War has been waged on us by the humans. They've broken our contract! This means we can start possessing them again at whatever time and place, just like the old times. Do not let the strong-minded humans live! If they want a war, they will have one!"

The demons yelled around Garuru in a "hurrah" noise. A wave of demons ran toward the hosting streams.

It was time to possess some adults. Like the old days, just a swift possession and fight, with their lives fully on the line. Garuru smiled. _For Giroro._

* * *

Fuyuki played on his phone.

 _How ya doing, Momoka?_ " Fuyuki texted. He made sure to put a heart emoticon after it.

" _Good_ ," she texted back. " _I miss you, though._ "

Fuyuki's heart jumped. He loved flirtatiously texting Momoka! It made his very teenage boy heart soar.

" _You could always come join us if it gets too tough for you back in town_ ," Fuyuki told her. " _You could come join ME_..."

" _Actually, I think it IS getting too hard. I... I want to see you. I can't do this anymore. Where can I meet you?_ "

Fuyuki grinned at Momoka's latest text.

" _Could be a trap, you know. Why'd she suddenly change her mind about accompanying us?_ " Kululu asked.

"It isn't a trap," Fuyuki told him. "I trust Momoka."

He sent her his location. Kululu didn't stop him. Momoka had proven herself time and time again that she was a good ally, and it was very unlikely that a Nishizawa's phone would be stolen.

So they waited for Momoka to join them.

* * *

"I can't wait to see Momocchi again!" Tamama seemed to have forgotten about his current task to blackmail Kululu at the premise of his best friend returning. "She'll be so surprised to see me."

"It'll be nice to meet her," Koyuki smiled. She was sure Momoka was a nice girl.

The moon was high in the sky as the group waited in the forest for Momoka, having told her the place they would wait for her.

But instead of seeing Momoka, they heard loud footsteps approaching, like thousands and thousands of people had accompanied her.

 _Did she evacuate the entire city?_ Fuyuki wondered. Trees fell down from being cut down to clear a way.

"Hello, Demon King. It ends today." Natsumi frowned at him.

"So... it was a trap," Kululu realized as he saw a huge human army behind her. The numbers were in her favor, but he could probably make sure that at least he and Fuyuki escaped.

It would be likely that most of their group would die in the coming skirmish, though. Especially Tamama - most hopefully Tamama.

"Where's Momoka?" Fuyuki asked, seeing his sister in front of him instead.

"Sorry... I had to use her phone, Fuyuki." Natsumi frowned, showing him her phone. She had felt awkward about all the "flirting with her brother" thing, but it was for a worthy cause. "But it'll be all worth it when I capture the Demon King. Everyone! Kill the demons, but leave Fuyuki alive. Capture him unharmed!" she ordered. "This should go quickly."

Fuyuki looked frightened as he backed away. He didn't want his new friends to die!

"Don't worry. We've got your back," Saburo assured him. "And hopefully... we'll keep ourselves safe," he also wished.

They all got ready to attack.

Suddenly, humans from the opposite side of where Natsumi had come from leveled the trees and stepped onto what would now be a battlefield. They didn't come from Natsumi's town and seemed to be different. They charged forward. They held guns and swords, but they didn't charge at Kululu's group. Instead, they charged at Natsumi.

"We're a little late. Had to find a bunch of human adults. They were weak, but we'll definitely wipe out the humans who defy our rule," one adult human told Fuyuki.

"What... What are you talking about?" Fuyuki asked.

"I'm not doing this for you, though, your majesty." The adult bowed anyway.

"Ku ku ku. Bought time the other demons showed up to put the humans in their place. This is going to be a short war," Kululu yawned. "Thought I stuck you to a wall, Garuru."

 _Wait... this is Kululu's adviser? Does this mean demons have gone back to the old practices and are possessing people against their will?_ Fuyuki realized. This was horrible. This wasn't what Natsumi wanted.

"You did. I got out, though. These humans are the ones who killed my brother, after all..." Garuru gritted his teeth.

"Ku, ku, ku. Oh, Giroro?" Kululu laughed. "He's not dead at all! Actually he's over there!" Just to be a jerk, Kululu pointed to the human side.

Giroro waved to his brother, recognizing the spiritual energy.

"Wh-what... What is the meaning of this?" Garuru asked, shaking. How was his brother alive, and mortal?

"He joined the human side. Was alive the whole time. Might want to ask him why, though. His reason is really amusing! Ku, ku, ku," Kululu laughed.

Garuru abandoned his king's side to charge at his brother, to reunite with him.

"Humans! Fight them off! They're demons!" Natsumi realized, horrified that demons had started possessing more adults in droves. She started slashing some demons, ignoring Fuyuki for a moment to focus on the huge amount of enemies that she currently had.

Garuru walked up to Giroro.

"So... you're alive..." He was relieved. "And... you're on the human side?" Garuru looked at him disappointed. "Why? Why would you do something like this."

"For Natsumi," Giroro confessed. "I... I fell in love with my host, big brother... I couldn't let her die. So I gave up my immortality and was put on this plane. I didn't mean to betray my people." He hung his head in shame.

"But you did." Garuru crossed his arms. "And for a human girl."

"I'm trying to convince her out of the battle. I don't want this!" Giroro yelled.

Natsumi murdered another demon in the background. Garuru shook his head.

"Why haven't you stopped her yet, then?" Garuru asked. "You're abandoning what you once held dear. Why are you letting her kill demons?"

Giroro answered with utmost honesty. "Because she's hot when she's being a warrior." He covered his mouth and blushed.

Garuru cried. He cried for his younger brother's stupidity.

* * *

Fuyuki didn't want this. All around him, humans and demons alike, all human bodies, were falling to the ground, dead.

He tried to raise his voice, to talk to the humans as himself.

"Stop this! The Nishizawa Contract prohibits this sort of stuff!"

"Dude, the Nishizawas are gone. Natsumi took the Nishizawa heir out of power. Totally took that girl out!" a human yelled back at him. Fuyuki's eyes widened.

Momoka was out of power? What... What had Natsumi done to her? If she was out of power... Did that mean Natsumi had killed her or something? She _did_ have her phone...

He had remembered Momoka telling him a few years back that she'd keep her phone close to her until the day she died, because of a cell phone birthday charm he had given her.

 _"I'll always treasure it!" Momoka had said, looking at the weird alien face charm. "It won't leave my side till the day I die!"_ Those words definitely couldn't have been an exaggeration. Right?

So... did that mean Momoka had died? Tears fell down Fuyuki's cheek.

 _No... she can't be dead..._ "I don't want the person... the person I love to be dead!" he cried.

Suddenly, a crushing weight of sadness fell onto Fuyuki. His emotions were so strong that they had somehow triggered Kululu's emotions as well, and ten thousand years of grief and mourning hit Fuyuki like a brick.

It was suffocating, it was a feeling he didn't want to live with, as both of them cried and felt sadness for their respective lost loves. It was like an ocean of memories that weren't his were pulling him down, and in turn chaining Kululu down to suffocate with him.

They were dying together from the grief.

Memories whirled in Fuyuki's head that he had never seen of Kululu just locked away in his castle, crying, and the face of a dead silver-haired girl.

His eyes closed as he was lost in the darkness of Kululu's emotions, and he let Kululu take full control of the body, unaware that he, too, was being controlled by Fuyuki's emotions and the grief of the loss of Momoka.

Horns erupted from his head. "You killed her," Kululu hissed at Natsumi, who was fighting in the middle of the battlefield.

 _Sis... Sis killed Momoka,_ Fuyuki realized. Kululu was acting angry because his emotions were fueling Kululu and making him relive the feelings he had felt during his wife's death. "Kululu... let me do it... Lend me your power... Let us fight, together," Fuyuki begged.

" _As you wish._ " Kululu sounded angry, but he shared control with Fuyuki. Seamlessly, the two moved together, fueled by their anger as Fuyuki used powers that had never been his before. Lightning struck around Natsumi under his command, and his horns, as if they were his own arms, shot out to grab Natsumi's arms and pin them above her so he could have a clean kill.

That was all he could feel at the moment - anger, the desire to kill Momoka's murderer. Even if it was his sister.

"Stop... controlling Fuyuki, you monster!" she hissed at Kululu.

"I'm not. We're working together to take out you." Kululu's and Fuyuki's voice meshed into one. "We're going to kill Momoka's killer."

Natsumi's eyes widened as a tear slid down her face to see her brother become this monstrosity. She could never imagine a sibling having to go through something so horrid.

"But Momoka is unharmed! I locked her up! She's not dead, just out of power!" Natsumi insisted. "I'd never harm the person you love."

"It's true!" Giroro darted in to defend Natsumi's claim.

Fuyuki's mind eased up. _Momoka's alive?_ One horn released itself from Natsumi's arm. Kululu quickly took control of it, though, so it could move towards Natsumi's neck, to squeeze. His own anger was not yet over.

Kululu still felt anger toward Natsumi. At least in his mind, Natsumi was the one fueling his anger and grief toward his wife's death.

" _Kululu... Stop_ ," Fuyuki begged. " _She didn't kill her. She didn't kill your wife._ " He knew the illusions in Kululu's mind weren't real, that the false truth was fueled by Fuyuki's own anger to make him believe, at least for a moment, that Natsumi was somehow responsible for his pain, when it was Fuyuki's pain he was feeling, in actuality.

Kululu dropped Natsumi. He covered his face with his hands as he let out a cry, before releasing the body to Fuyuki.

Giroro helped Natsumi up as she rubbed her neck.

"Thanks," she told him, giving his hand a quick squeeze.

Kululu's next words chilled Fuyuki's bones. " _That's right... Natsumi never hurt my wife or killed her... I'm the one responsible. She would have lived if not for me. So... I killed her._ " The sound of agony and self-blame in Kululu's voice was evident, but it made Fuyuki confused.

He had thought the Messenger of Death killed Kululu's wife.

* * *

Fuyuki backed away on to the farther reaches of the battlefield so he could be out of Natsumi's reach. He didn't want to hurt her again, like last time. Kululu seemed willing enough to watch the war play out instead of aiding it or stopping it, too.

Unexpectedly, and suddenly. The sound of flying was in the sky.

"Look... ANGELS!" Some of the demon side yelled, pointing up at Momoka's fake angels. Paul had called for the entire group to be sent to hurt both sides.

"Angels? ANGELS?!" Kululu looked up in awe, at the angels flying in the sky. He reached up, as if they would grab him and carry him away.

 _Oh no..._ Fuyuki realized. Kululu needed to focus on the humans. Not his vendetta against angels.

For some reason, though, instead of feeling intense anger, he felt excitement. _Why is Kululu excited about the angels returning?_

"Shoot them down!" Natsumi ordered her humans. "But make sure not to hurt them! They're humans, just like us!"

"Humans?" Kululu turned his head and narrowed his eyes. He could see little jet pack steam coming out of their wings. _Ah... so they're fake... That explains it._

The excited feeling vanished. And quickly, the fake angels that Momoka had planned to use were easily quelled.

The fake angels tried their hardest, but neither side took them seriously. They just tied them up and scooted them away.

And the battle raged on.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dororo and Koyuki stood back-to-back on the battlefield. They tried to make sure to hurt people, but to not kill anyone and avoid injury themselves.

They didn't know which side they were rooting for, honestly. The one that they wouldn't die in.

"They need to stop," Dororo wished.

"I don't think they'll listen to reason," Koyuki sighed, throwing another blade. If only they could put them all to sleep and escape. But that wasn't an option.

So they continued trying to be agile and dodge blows.

* * *

Kululu and Fuyuki tried not to fight too much. They just tried to keep themselves safe and out of Natsumi's reach. However, some humans didn't follow her orders about trying to keep him alive. One of them tried to charge at the two with a sword.

"Kululu! Help!" Fuyuki yelled. He didn't have the power to stop this sword, or the agility. So Kululu used his horns to grab the human and toss him into another human, who was attacking a teenage girl with long blue hair that had one side of her bangs covering her eyes.

The teenage girl turned to both of them. Fuyuki wondered if she was from the human or demon side.

"I'm still mad at you, brother," she spoke. "This doesn't change anything." Then she walked off farther into the battlefield.

 _Brother?_ Fuyuki wondered.

" _Rinono... didn't expect to see her here... That's a bad omen,_ " Kululu spoke mostly to himself. Fuyuki just blinked. So that had been Kululu's sister.

He ran off to a safer distance, knowing that Kululu would be caught up in nostalgia instead of a desire to battle.

* * *

Keroro stood in front of a human soldier. The soldier really wanted to tear him into two pieces... but Keroro was just so fab.

The charisma radiated off of him due to his demon powers. "Uhh... better be going then." Keroro turned and slipped on a random banana peel. He fell and knocked twenty human soldiers down, who had all been standing in a line.

"Wow! Mr. Keroro! You're so lucky!" Tamama told him. He loved Keroro. Tamama was mortal right now, so he no longer had his Tamama Impacts, but he had realized on the battlefield he could still use his farts to his advantage. He just let one rip and it killed the enemies!

Well... honestly it killed both sides.

Keroro just nodded. There was really no risk of him dying in this war, as long as he kept away from Tamama's smells. He himself was too beautiful for anybody to hit. "I'm just too lucky for all of this," Keroro smiled.

"You're not too pretty for me. Actually, the stupidity on your insides is a giant turn-off." Natsumi punched him in the face, causing him to collapse.

"Mr. Keroro!" Tamama yelled. She punched Tamama too, knocking him out.

"I am going to execute you both as the demons who have run from me." She smiled, before throwing a rock at the back of Dororo's head, who was too busy dodging other human blows to worry about Natsumi.

Koyuki didn't notice, because she was too busy fighting off some other humans.

She quickly stuffed him into a burlap sack with Keroro and Tamama, and dragged them to a good place in the battlefield where she could be seen from.

* * *

"Humans and demons alike, I want you to see what happens to demons who try to run from me, who deny my new world!" Natsumi yelled, gathering the humans' and demons' attention. They stopped fighting for a moment as a tied up Keroro, Dororo, and Tamama came to.

"I will eliminate these three demons who ran from me," she announced. "All evil." She held a sword in her hand.

"Giroro... Giroro, help!" Keroro screamed.

Giroro watched by Natsumi's side and bit his lip as she approached Dororo, about to cut his head off.

"DORORO!" Koyuki screamed. She had finally noticed Dororo was no longer by her side.

"Natsumi, stop!" Giroro finally yelled before she struck.

"Huh... why?" she asked, turning to Giroro. He seemed worried about something. "Can we talk after I do this? This is very important."

"No." Giroro put his foot down. "We're talking now," he told her. "Listen. I love you very much."

"I know that. You don't have to say that all the time." Natsumi rolled her eyes, annoyed. Perfect relationships like hers were hard work!

"But I'm done," Giroro continued. Natsumi's expression changed to shock. "The Natsumi I fell in love with and the Natsumi who's killing innocent demons right and left are not the same," he said. "And you are killing innocent demons. Not all of us are bad. Right now, the demons you yourself are trying to execute are some of my best friends... Well, minus the red-head. I don't know who he is." Giroro shrugged.

"Your friends?" Natsumi asked. "But... But I thought all demons were evil..." Giroro had never told her he had friends on the demon realm... or a family.

He never told her much about himself at all. They didn't have time for that on her mission.

"I am no exception to the 'all demons are evil' thing. I am about as morally gray as any of them. I am about as evil as all the rest of the demons, so if you think I'm notl, you'll have to kill me, too," Giroro insisted.

"No. Don't say that about yourself. You're better than them!" Natsumi insisted. "I love you."

Giroro smiled a sad smile. "I love you too, Natsumi." He stroked her head, and she felt soothed for a moment. "But I'm afraid this is the end. It's either me, or them," he told her. "Because if you kill them, I'm gone. And I know you won't give up your crusade just for me. So, Natsumi. It's over, because I can't date the murderer of my best friends. I need to fight against you and try to save their lives... Save the lives of the people I care about."

Natsumi's face contorted in sadness as her heart broke.

"So... you're breaking up with me?" she asked, realizing that perhaps this wasn't the best time and place to discuss their relationship.

"I have to," Giroro told her.

Keroro awkwardly tried to wiggle free from his ropes in the background as Giroro and Natsumi talked.

"I... I had no idea you had friends on the demon plane... A family you cared about. I just assumed since you never talked about your life, that it was pretty bad." Natsumi tried not to cry in front of all her soldiers. Now was not the time to be a teenager.

"Well, I do... My brother is out fighting right now, as a matter of fact," he shared. He turned away from her, ready to leave.

"Wait!" Natsumi grabbed his arm. "I... I had no idea you felt this way... I suppose I just thought everything was perfect between us, and I just... I was so foolish. We weren't communicating enough and I just thought everything was all nice, but it wasn't..." Natsumi covered her face, so nobody could see the small amount of tears that had leaked out.

"I'm sure you'll do better next time." Giroro tried to comfort her. "You're a warrior. One defeat won't stop you. Take this as a lesson. Communication is important."

Natsumi nodded, sniffling a little bit. "I... I don't want you to go, Giroro..." she said. "If... If I find a less murderous way to fight for humanity to have equal rights... would there be a chance that you'd stay?"

"Do you really care that much that you'd give up this fight for our relationship?" Giroro asked. Natsumi thought for a moment.

It was a pretty stupid choice. That was true. Something Giroro might do, but not her. She had to see things on the bigger picture.

But if Giroro left, she wouldn't be able to live with herself. "You're part of the reason I could lead this army, and be so strong. You're half of my strength now. I love you, Giroro. So, please... stay by my side," she begged.

Giroro nodded. "Then prove to me you respect my way of life. Please stand down and stop your human army. And do not kill any of my friends."

Natsumi nodded, taking her hands off her face so Giroro could stroke it and see her tears.

"I formally surrender. Humans, this is not the way to go. Apparently... demons are not villains and are just like us. We can still fight, but in a non-violent way to ensure we don't die either. So stand down," she ordered her army.

"Nah," they all answered. "You may be strong, Natsumi. But we've learned that together, we can be strong, too!" The humans marched on, despite Natsumi's orders.

Natsumi stood back and for once truthfully saw what she had started. "Oh no... this is all my fault."

"You did all you could for now..." Giroro hugged her. "It's all right. It'll be a battle to stop them, but we can do it. Together."

Natsumi nodded. All she really wanted to do was hug Giroro now.

Keroro freed Dororo and Tamama and the three of them tip-toed away.

* * *

Both forces had at least half their soldiers now dead from only half a day of fighting. Without Natsumi's leadership, the humans were a wreck of cruelty, and the demons didn't know what they were doing, either, since it wasn't like their king was actually going to _lead_ them THIS time. It was just death, death, and more death.

Fuyuki just desperately tried to stop them, but nothing he could do could help.

A lot of people seemed injured, laying on the ground, trying to catch their breath.

That was when a helicopter flew down.

"EVERYBODY STOP YOUR FIGHTING IMMEDIATELY!" Momoka hopped out of the helicopter with a loudspeaker, with Paul by her side. Her hands were bruised and bloody from tearing her way out of prison.

"Momoka? What are you doing here?" Natsumi asked. "How did you break free?

"I'm here saving your butts," Momoka growled at Natsumi. It had taken her hours to get out of that cell. "And if it's for Fuyuki's sake, I can do anything. Even tear through solid steel."

Natsumi was impressed and jealous. _She_ couldn't do that.

"We won't stop! We want freedom!" the humans yelled.

"Paul. Get my guards. Tell them to slap everyone who's still alive. Hopefully then they'll have some sense," Momoka ordered. Paul bowed, and soon enough, everybody was slapped - even the demons. Momoka crossed her arms, having a look on her face that meant serious business.

"You all are stupid! You're going to kill each other!" she said to them all.

"If it's for freedom we can do anything - " a human tried to butt in.

"Shush. My time to speak. I am the Nishizawa heiress, and if you go against my wishes, I will buy out whatever place you work at and fire all of you. I will ruin your economy and have you live horribly and make each individual life a living hell," she threatened. "You've lost loved ones, children, precious people in this war, I am sure all of you have," she told them. "But you'll lose many more if you continue." She looked fiercely at them. "And listen. If we continue fighting the demons, we are going to get wrecked. They have supernatural powers and can obviously just possess more of us. We're at the disadvantage here."

"Just cuz we'll lose doesn't mean we should give up!" a person told her.

"Don't give up. Negotiate with grace. Nonviolently so they can't do anything about it. They'll want to harm you, but legally, they won't be able to touch you. I will make a new Nishizawa contract so that you will not be harmed," Momoka offered.

"But..."

"If I can deal with my most cherished person being possessed by the f*cking Demon King himself, you can deal. And if you disagree, I'll slap you myself. Capisce?" Momoka told them.

They zipped their mouths closed. Their forces - humans and demons alike - were pretty wrecked already, anyway.

"Kululu!" Momoka called to Kululu who was at the far reach of the battlefield having perched himself in a tree a safe distance away. "Make a new contract with me."

"About time." He safely landed and walked up to her. "That was... impressive how you got everyone's attention. I suppose you're not as bad as I first thought. Ku, ku, ku."

"Thank you, I suppose?" Momoka told him.

"I suppose you deserve a reward for coming all the way out here, and well not being dead and all, so... before we get to that contract thing, here." Kululu relinquished control to Fuyuki.

"Huh? What do you want me to do?" Fuyuki asked.

" _I'm allowing one kiss. Then it's time for business. Ku, ku, ku. I know... pretty nice of me, huh?_ "

Fuyuki blushed. "H-he wants to give me a chance to reunite with you before getting to business," he told her.

Momoka smiled, but it was suspicious. "That's nice of him."

"I... I thought you were dead for a moment, you know. I... I didn't know what to do... I was so lost without you. I realized, Momoka... I... I lo - " He stopped himself. Kululu would probably get mad if he confessed. He had only been allowed one kiss, and the clock was ticking. So he leaned down and gave Momoka a peck on her lips, short and chaste, but still filled with love and sweetness. She might as well have died right then.

"I m-m-m-m-missed you too, Fuyuki. But don't worry, I'm fine," she stuttered out. Did... Did this mean Fuyuki liked her? It had to!

Fuyuki blushed again. He embraced her. "Still... I was worried."

"All right. My turn! Ku, ku, ku." Kululu took control and pushed her off before they could confess to each other. "Now about this contract - "

"NO! NO NEW CONTRACT! Take out the Nishizawa!" a human yelled, standing up. "I will not let our sacrifices be in vain!"

Kululu rolled his eyes. "I suppose you'll need a demon's help to get through to these idiots, huh?"

"That would be appreciated," Momoka told him.

"Listen, humans! The contract will only work if you follow it, too! So you can either choose to go against it and be turned into cattle by us, the demons... because I am the Demon King and can easily take you all down... or you can listen to Momoka's words." Kululu shrugged. "Your choice."

"LET'S FIGHT!" the humans yelled.

"All right. Let me give you a different choice, then..." Kululu emitted a sound wave with his demon powers, causing all the demons and humans alike to crumble onto the ground, covering their ears from the annoying and distressing sounds coming from his horns. He pulled out the Messenger of Death's pocket watch and turned it back into a staff. "Form the contract, or die right here," he threatened, holding the staff. "I may not be an angel, but I know how to use this thing to at least eliminate one species in this area," Kululu fibbed. "Guess which one I'll choose? Hint: It won't be demons!"

The humans paled. They knew that staff was strong, and could kill them.

"We'll form the contract," they decided.

"Good," Kululu told them, smiling. "Good." He was just about to put the staff away, when suddenly, a bunch of trees were just... disintegrated in seconds by a black orb thing.

Everybody looked stunned as they turned their heads to the side to see that a third group of people approaching them, perhaps three thousand of them in all. Their faces paled at the different sights of people - some of them looked human, and some of them looked like monstrous figures. They were all dressed up in heavy clothing, so they didn't know if they were just confused, thinking that some of them had three heads and were ten feet tall. Or if perhaps they did. Was it part of their outfit?

A teenage girl lead the third group of people. A third eye was on her forehead.

"I told you there was some silly civil war thingy going on between those humans and demons!" she told her people, smiling as she lead them onto the large battlefield. "Funny, huh? They started destroying each other at the perfect time for us to come... You could say, hole in one?"

"I think the term is 'strike.' You're mixing up your games," one of the others told her.

The girl giggled. She then looked forward at Kululu and Fuyuki. "And look! There it is! My staff! I knew it would be here! I could feel it in my soul!"

Kululu just stood there, frozen, staring at what was now right in front of him. Everybody on the field knew somewhere deep in their core who these people were...B ut they couldn't be... None of them had any wings.

This had to be a lie. Maybe Momoka had designed wingless angels?

"Thank you, mister!" The girl with silver hair and three eyes quickly pulled the staff from Kululu's hands. Fuyuki tried to grip it tightly, but Kululu just gave it up in his shock. It was like he handed it to the stranger.

"Are... Are those angels?" the demons and humans finally asked each other.

"What's up?" the angels waved, sinister grins all on their faces. The humans and demons were pretty much dead.

Keroro and Tamama both looked at the girl leading the angels. They both recognized her and shouted, "IT'S YOU!"

Tamama turned to Keroro. "Wait... Why do you know her?"

Keroro just gripped his hat tightly. He was not giving it up!

"Momoka... You should order your soldiers down," Natsumi told her with a long laugh. The humans laughed too, realizing these must be more fake angels.

Momoka just shivered. "These... These aren't my soldiers."

Everybody froze as their hopes plummeted.

But Fuyuki just seemed locked on the three-eyed girl in front of him. He felt some weird feeling overcome his legs, and they seemed to fall under him. He realized what happened all too late.

Kululu fainted.

* * *

 **Please review!**

 **And arc three will obviously be about the angels.**


	22. The Messenger of Derp

**Apologies in advance for the quality of this chapter.**

 **-Scissors**

 **(Rainbowkittyblossomwings here: Oh boy...What can I be expecting from this chapter? With that title and all...)**

* * *

For a long moment, everyone stood before the angels in throbbing silence. And then a single voice broke it.

"WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAK," Keroro blurted out as he watched Fuyuki's body crumble to the ground. All the rest of the humans and demons, although they should have been scared for their lives at the return of the angels, began to laugh at Kululu instead. It was a good way to relieve all the tension.

"Fainting at the sight of the Messenger of Death! Hua ha ha ha ha!"

"Ain't you the one who FOUGHT her, bro?"

"Phfft… guess it was just too much for him to realize he didn't actually finish the job like he told everyone!"

All the demons had been waiting their whole lives to laugh at their king, and now that Kululu was out, this was the perfect opportunity.

Momoka was the only one who wasn't laughing her ass off. "Fuyuki!" She rushed to his side, cradling his head in her lap. "Oh, please tell me you're okay…!"

She was quickly prodded off of him by the Messenger of Death's staff. "Please refrain from touching each other, humans," she asked politely.

Momoka just sobbed. "You can't be an angel," she whispered. "You can't be!"

"Oh, but I am." She grinned. "My name is Mois, of the Angol tribe—better known to all of you as the Messenger of Death."

The humans and demons gasped. Behind her, the angels snickered.

"That's not your title anymore, Mois. You're the Messenger of Derp now, remember?"

"Oh, sorry." Mois smiled and quickly corrected herself. She thrust her staff in the air. "Soon, the humans shall meet their fate by the hands of me, Angol Mois, the Messenger of Derp!"'

Everyone just gave her this blank stare.

Then they burst out laughing.

"Hey, that's not nice!" She started pouting. "I could just wipe all of you out _now_ , you know. You could say, one clean sweep?"

The laughter was cut short.

"No? That's a bit better. Well, nice to meet all of you!" She waved, then turned behind her. "I think we can chain them up now."

"Wait, what?" Natsumi paled. "I don't understand. You can't—You can't actually be angels. This is some sort of joke, right? You died ten thousand years ago. The Demon King—he killed you."

"So I heard! You could say, unbelievable, am I right?" Mois agreed. "Well, it's taken us a while to return, and thank goodness we have! The amount of human sin that has festered over the course of just one year is _unbearable_." She tapped her staff on the ground and gave a fake salute. "And as the last destroyer of souls, it's my job to do something about that!"

"How many of these humans would you like captured, Mois?" one of the armored angels asked.

"Hmmm…" she tapped her chin. "How about all of them. I'll judge them once we get back to town."

Humans and demons alike started screaming and running about as chains and shackles seemed to materialize on them out of nowhere. A couple of humans and demons escaped, but Mois didn't seem to notice nor care.

"Let them warn humanity," she figured. "We can't fit that many, and it's been far too long since people have been talking about us, anyway. How long did you say we were dead, floofy pink-haired human?"

"Natsumi," she hissed. "My name is Natsumi. And it was ten thousand years."

One of the angels groaned. "We could have been SLEEPING in that time, Mois! If SOMEONE hadn't killed us all…."

"I'm so sorry." She shed a tear. "I wanted to sleep for ten millennium, too. I promise, I'll never kill us all ever, ever again."

The other angel just rolled his eyes.

Much to everyone's dismay, they were loaded, shoved, and coerced with spears onto several barred-off carts that were each hooked to the back of a large four-wheeled motorized bike that came out from the forest. Once all the humans and demons boarded, about ten or so angels crowded on with them, and the four-wheelers started up.

Because Fuyuki, Keroro, Tamama, Dororo, Koyuki, Giroro, Natsumi, and Momoka had all been in the same area, they were all loaded onto the same cart. Most of them were still speechless and in shock from the whole ordeal, but none more speechless than Kululu and Fuyuki, who were still unconscious.

Natsumi stroked her brother's head. "I'm so sorry, Fuyuki…. I caused this. Everything is my fault." She bit back tears. "I can't believe all the things that have happened…. I left you, I let kids be killed, we lured the angels right to us, and then I let Kululu take complete control of you…." The tears came much harder now that she remembered the look in her brother's eyes when he almost killed her.

Giroro rubbed her back, trying to soothe her.

"I wonder if Kululu was exaggerating his story, since he seemed so terrified to see the Messenger of Death," Dororo speculated. "Perhaps she was the scarier one, after all?"

"I just can't believe it," Koyuki said quietly to herself. "Angels really came back…."

"I wonder where we're going," said Keroro. He looked out the edge of the cart. So many humans and demons being taken away.

Tamama gritted his teeth and growled. "I SWEAR, WHEN I'M OUT OF THESE CHAINS, I'M GOING TO RIP THAT MESSENGER OF DEATH'S HEAD RIGHT OFF!"

"Uh-oh." Keroro gulped. He didn't want to bring about Tamama's wrath, but he knew what he had to do. "Guys… I have a confession."

"What is it?" Everyone looked over at Keroro.

"Well… uh, remember that girl I met in the forest half a year ago?" He swallowed again. "I think—I think that was the Messenger of Death. I sort of took her hat."

"WHAAAAAAAT?" Tamama squawked. "TH-THAT WOMAN?"

"Yeah." Subconsciously, Keroro's eyes sought her out, and the spotted her as she stood perfectly on the back of a four-wheeler as it rolled through their path in the forest. She made eye contact and grinned at him, waving. "Um… I think she just saw me."

"Don't let her come over here!" Tamama sobbed. "She's soooo obnoxious!"

It was too late. Mois hopped from four-wheeler to cart to four-wheeler to reach Keroro's cart. When she was close enough, she made a might leap… and landed face-first in the middle of the cart.

She jumped back to her feet. "I'm okay!" she insisted, then gave a nervous laugh. "It takes a couple decades to get used to having no wings, that's all."

Tamama noticed that she was wearing a cape now, and that when the wind pushed it over her shoulders, he could see two large scars on her back where her wings used to be.

"Anyway." Mois twirled around and took a seat by Keroro, where she leaned her arm on the edge of the cart and gazed at him. "I couldn't say I expected _you'd_ be here, Mr. Demon Prince."

Everyone made a face. "You didn't tell us you got her to _like_ you, stupid," Natsumi growled at Keroro.

Keroro just sweated nervously. "Ah… funny how that works." He awkwardly pushed Mois's face away as it inched closer to his own. "This is just awful," he said to Saburo in his head. "I never expected that she'd come back and remember me!"

" _Try 'I never expected that she'd come back and turn out to be THE MESSENGER OF DEATH herself_ ,' " Saburo corrected him. " _This is a tight situation you got yourself in, Keroro, all for a hat. And I'm not helping you out of it._ "

"I have no regrets," said Keroro. "This hat is fantastic."

"You _do_ remember me, don't you?" Mois timidly traced circles on the bottom of the cart. "The one you met in the forest so long ago and confessed your eternal love to?"

"YOU CONFESSED YOUR LOVE TO THE MESSENGER OF DEATH?!" Tamama screeched.

"Yes." Mois smiled brightly. "He told me, 'I love funny people.' Did you hear that? He thinks I'm funny _and_ he loves me!" She touched her hands to her cheeks and gushed. "He even promised me we'd someday meet again! Ahh, if this isn't fate! But what is your name, stranger?"

Keroro was just frozen in shock. "Bibbledabbledoo," he made up.

Mois swooned. "A name fit for a prince!"

Everyone else in the cart, save for Fuyuki and Kululu, all looked at each other and shared the same thought: Whodafuq died and made this girl a leader?

"She doesn't act very… Messenger-of-Death-ey," Dororo commented. "Kululu portrayed her as the complete opposite. Where is her bloodthirsty nature? Where are her vulture-like wings?"

"Angels don't have wings anymore," Mois said, hearing the last bit. "After I killed all of us"—She cast a guilty glance off to the side.—"our wings were taken away. Probably as a punishment. You could say, no pain, no gain?"

"I don't think that phrase fits in this case," Dororo muttered.

 _That's right, be in pain. Suffer all you can,_ Tamama thought to himself. _How dare you lay a finger on Mr. Keroro after all the dirty things you did with Kululu, ya floozy! Actually… how dare you lay a finger to Mr. Keroro to begin with!_ He tried to flop over to her in his chains, maybe bite her legs off or something. It proved unsuccessful. She hadn't even noticed him there, in all that time.

"So… um…" Mois gave a nervous giggle and stood up, managing to balance perfectly against all the bumps in the path that the cart was rolling over. "Where did all the demons go, anyway? I can sense their energy but I only see three of them…." She looked amongst Tamama, Giroro, and Dororo.

Everyone looked at each other as if to ask, _Should we tell her?_ Momoka was the one to speak up. "People aren't supposed to recognize demons. They take human hosts, remember?"

"Yes, and then they violently rip out their souls and morph their bodies onto the human plane," she finished. "So where are all the demons?"

"Demons don't do that anymore," said Momoka. "Because of the Nishizawa Contract, they possess their host for two years, then kill them."

"Ahh." Mois nodded. "I can't remember the contract. Guess I've been dead for a pretty long while. You could say, out of the loop?"

"Actually," said Momoka, "I was just about to form a new contract with the Demon King right before you and all the other angels—"

Mois whipped out her staff and pointed it at everyone, hostile. "The Demon King?! Where? Where's the Demon King!"

Everyone fought the urge to look over at Fuyuki.

Mois gasped. "He's _here_? In this cart?" Her eyes settled on Fuyuki, the one person there who everyone else was trying desperately to not look at. She marched up and pointed to him. "You there!" she shouted. "Demon King! How _dare_ you manipulate me into killing my own race?"

"Don't hurt Fuyuki!" Momoka begged. "His host is still alive! Hopefully for another seventy years, at least!"

But Mois wasn't listening. "Although I may not recall what happened, I've heard the legends of you. To think that I, the Messenger of Derp herself, fell for one of your psychological mind games! You could say, a true travesty?"

"Good luck chewing him out when he's unconscious," Giroro chuckled.

"Unconscious?" Mois remembered how he had fainted. "That's right. I'll have to awaken him, _then_ yell at him. A simple tap of my staff to his forehead should do." She spun her staff in the air and brought it down on Fuyuki's head—a little TOO hard, and he sharply sat up in pain.

"OW!" Fuyuki whined. He looked around him. "Wait, what's going on?"

"Demon King, repent for the sins that you have committed!" Mois rose her staff again.

"WAIT! WAIT! I-I'm not the Demon King!" he insisted. "I'm just Fuyuki Hinata, his host. I have no idea who you are!"

"All right. Bring me the Demon King, then." She waited. "Well?"

Half a minute passed by. Everyone was frozen as they awaited his words tensely—Momoka especially, since Fuyuki's life was probably in danger. Then, Kululu finally responded in a low, quiet, and quivering voice, "Stop the vehicle."

"What did you s—"

"STOP THE VEHICLE," he ordered, much louder now.

The vehicle didn't stop.

Like lightning, Kululu broke off the chains, got to his feet, and raced to one of the angels with them on the cart, where he generated a ball of surging electrical sparks in the palm of Fuyuki's hand and pressed it close to the defenseless angel. "If this vehicle doesn't stop right now, I'll kill this guy."

"Oh, that's just Jared," another angel said. "It's okay if you kill Jared. We never really liked him, anyway."

"All right… then I'll kill _this guy_!" Kululu pushed his electricity ball to a different angel.

"NO! NOT FREDRICK!"

The four-wheeler puller the cart screeched to a halt.

"Good," Kululu spoke, his voice still shaking quite a bit. "Now, let me speak to the Messenger of Death."

Everyone waited for them to speak.

" _Alone_ ," he specified.

The angels pushed Mois forward, like she was a sacrifice.

"Good," he said again. "Now if you'll excuse us, I'll deal with this angel threat right away." And just like that, he grabbed her wrist and darted out of the cart with her, deep into the woods.

The angels scratched their necks and looked amongst each other. "Can we _please_ drive off without them?"

"Nah," said another. "We need her...But I sure wish we didn't."

* * *

Fuyuki had this nasty feeling in his gut. He didn't like the way Kululu had said "alone;" he didn't like how much glee he could sense about Kululu; he didn't like any of this. He knew for certain what was going to happen when they were deep enough in the woods. Kululu was going to maim her, mutilate her, murder her, and fulfill all his revenge and personal vendetta he'd been holding for ten thousand years.

When they were far enough away, Kululu positioned her in front of himself and just gazed at her. He took her in, he swallowed her with his eyes, he photographed her with his mind. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he began to cry. And he had been trying to desperately to hold them in.

"What do you wish to speak about?" asked Mois quite angrily. "Because I—"

She was cut off as Kululu embraced her tightly, and Fuyuki could feel even more tears going down his cheeks. Honestly, he wanted to cry, too. What was going on?

After a minute of shock for Mois and Fuyuki both, Kululu pulled her away and placed his hands on her hair, gazing into her eyes. He looked so joyful, but she…. She had a confused expression on her face, so severe that it was almost comical.

"Mois, I… I never thought I'd see you again," he told her tenderly.

 _WHAAAAT? The Messenger of Death has a name?_ thought Fuyuki. _When did THAT happen?_

He embraced her again. "I knew you and the angels would come back. Just like you said. Ten thousand years and it's finally happened. I just… I can't believe this isn't a dream." He delivered a very deep, passionate, and loving kiss to her mouth. Then he started kissing her all over—on her neck, her shoulders. He was still crying in happiness.

Fuyuki let out an ear-splitting shriek in Kululu's head. Mois's mouth was open in pure horror and confusion. "M-my first kiss..." she squeaked like a deflating doggy toy.

"Sorry about my reaction earlier," Kululu said to her as he stroked her hair. "Ku ku ku. I was just taken by surprise! Really! I've been dreaming of this moment for ten thousand years. I just…" He let out another chuckle and squeezed her hand. "I wasn't sure when it would actually happen! This is... This is fantastic!"

" _Kululu?_ " Fuyuki asked. " _What's going on?_ "

"Hush it Fuyuki, we're having a moment," Kululu scolded. "Anyway, ohh, geez, there's so much to tell you, Mois… So much to get you caught up on… Where to start?"

Mois just glared at him. "What the angels feathers do you think you're doing? And how do you know my name?"

"Oh! Of course! Where are my nonexistent manners? Ku ku ku. I completely forgot that you wouldn't recognize me with this voice and appearance. Mois, this is my host, Fuyuki." He pointed at himself. "And I… Mois, it's me, Kululu. I've finally found you again." He took both her hands and gazed at her blissfully. Fuyuki thought his was very odd for Kululu. Then again, everything was odd right now. His head was spinning from the confusion. "I have to admit, sometimes, I lost faith. Sometimes I thought you were permanently dead. And in times like those, there was nothing to keep me going. But now I realize I was wrong." He quickly changed the subject, then put his arm around her and started talking really fast. "Well, how have you been? You must have been hanging around on this plane for quite a while, ku ku ku. Oh, who am I kidding? We'll have plenty of time to catch up! Ku, and who knew that you'd actually reincarnate as yourself. I always thought you'd just take some random appearance. Well, gee, if I'd have known, could've made things a lot easier, couldn't it have! Ku ku ku! Wow, you look so much different without your wings…. At least you still have three eyes though. Though you're a lot slimmer, too…. Oh, god, that's right, we lost the baby…." His shoulders slumped. "Well, let's not think about that right now. We're finally together again. Oh, also, the house burned down. That's okay, though, it was falling apart after ten thousand years, anyway. We can rebuild it. Ku ku ku. Also I think someone grave-robbed you because that angel-worshipper had your staff, and then she gave it to my host's older sister, and then this big war thingy was started, aaaand… Um, ku ku ku, why are you glaring at me, babe?"

Freaked out, Mois pushed him off of her. "Don't call me babe! I don't even know you!"

"What?" Now Kululu was the one who looked confused. "B-But Mois, it's _me_! It's Kululu! The Demon King! Your _husband_! How could you forget?! Or… are you just acting? Mois, there's no one here. Well, no one but Fuyuki. It's okay to—"

" _You're… whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?_ " Fuyuki took a double-take. " _WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?_ "

This couldn't be true. This wasn't possible! Not the Messenger of Death! Kululu had to be playing mind games with her. Yes, he had to be playing mind games! This couldn't have been his wife. This couldn't have been the one he still felt so sensitively about.

But she was quite insistent. "No! You're not my husband! My one true love can only be Bibbledabbledoo!"

"Wh-What are you even saying—" He reached toward her.

"NO! I don't know you, Demon King! Get away!" She slapped him and ran through the trees, back to where the four-wheeler had stopped and was currently driving away from.

A strange feeling overcame Fuyuki—he felt as if he'd been punched in the gut. It took everything out of him. Fuyuki felt his knees buckle under him, and he fell to the ground. Just as quickly, Kululu retired to the depths of his mind and Fuyuki was able to take over again.

* * *

"Oh, darn it, she's back," said an angel. He quickly cleared his throat. "You're back, Mois. And it looks like the Demon King hasn't killed you yet."

"Yeah," she said. She spun an air-circle by his head. "He just tried to play another psychological mind-game on me! But I was too smart to fall for it _this_ time. You could say, fool me once, shame on you?"

"Well, uh… where is he now?"

"He's back in the forest. Let's leave him!" she said excitedly.

The four-wheeler was just about to start up again when Natsumi started shouting and yelling.

"NOO! My brother's back there," she wailed. "I've done him so wrong this past year…. Please, someone bring him back to me. I need to be with my brother."

"Aww." Mois wiped a tear from her eye, falling for it. "Sibling love is sooo sweet. You could say, escape thwarted?"

"What?" said Natsumi. "That's not what I—I mean, if that's the case, then—"

"Can one of you go fetch the blue-haired boy for me?" Mois requested the angels. They groaned at having to take orders from the Messenger of Bad Luck, but complied anyway.

Eventually, one of the angels came back carrying Fuyuki over his shoulder. He chained him up and plopped him back into the cart. "We'll have to keep a close eye on you, Demon King," they warned him.

"I-I'm not the Demon King," Fuyuki stuttered out. His eyes were fixed forward, still in shock.

Even as the cart started rolling again, Fuyuki couldn't quite process what he had seen and heard. He was completely frozen. _It had to be one of his sick mind games…. Yeah, that's right. Kululu flirts with everybody! …And maybe he would even stoop so low as to flirt with his own wife's killer. Yeah. That's got to be it._

"Fuyuki?" asked Momoka, leaning toward him in her chains. "Are you all right? You look… frightened. Frightened and shocked."

Just then, another thought occurred to him. _He even kissed her… using MY lips! Ew! We gotta talk about what he CAN and CANNOT do while in my body. This is the second time now!_

"Fuyuki… I was wondering," said Momoka, "if we could maybe… I dunno…" She twiddled her fingers together and blushed. "…talk about the kiss…."

"NO! I don't want to talk about the kiss!" he blurted.

"Oh. That's all right. You're probably embarrassed," she understood. "Maybe another time, then."

"No, you're right, Momoka," said Fuyuki after some thought. "I do need to talk to him about the kiss."

"Uh… 'him?' "

Fuyuki shut his eyes and slowly exhaled, trying to concentrate on drifting off into his head. After a moment, Fuyuki relaxed, becoming sucked into the mind realm where Kululu dwelled.

Oddly, as the mind realm became sharper in his mind, he thought he heard faint weeping. The weeping became louder as the mind realm cleared, and Fuyuki stood in front of Kululu, looking desolate and sobbing his head off hysterically, trapped in his own abyssal devastation.

"Wh-what?" Fuyuki gasped. This couldn't be what he thought it was.

Kululu continued wailing for a couple more minutes, until he slipped a glare to Fuyuki through the cracks of his fingers. "God, this is humiliating," he muttered to himself, sniffling. "What do _you_ want?"

"I…" Fuyuki had never seen him in such a state. "Um… nothing. I'm good." He awkwardly walked off behind him, and sat down amongst the clouds of nothingness in his head.

Now that Kululu presumed Fuyuki to be gone, he continued bawling his head off. It was a pathetic sight. Fuyuki desperately wished he'd be able to forget it someday. Well, at least he knew one thing for certain now. Kululu _hadn't_ been playing mind games.

That was actually more problematic.

 _His wife was the Messenger of Death herself,_ he finally accepted with much dread. _So that was how she fit into his story…. During the war, the leader of the demons' side and the leader of the angels' side were secretly married. She must not have died from any "psychological mind game," either. She must have sacrificed herself and the rest of her kind after learning that the angels planned to kill all the demons. That was why he said the Messenger of Death killed his wife! And that the angels died from their own stupid decisions! And that he was the one who killed his wife! And that was why Tamama blackmailed him with the affair! And that skelebaby we saw… Kululu vomited because it was HIS skelebaby. Everything makes sense now. And I bet he kissed my sister because—Well, I still don't know why he kissed my sister._ Fuyuki tried to think of a reason. _Wait a second. What was that he said back there? "I knew you and the angels would come back, just like you said, ten thousand years and it's finally happened"? He…. He knew all this time that the angels were coming back? And he didn't say a word?_

This, out of everything, was what shocked Fuyuki the most. He felt betrayed by Kululu. The angels were dangerous; and yet, he hadn't warned a single person about their resurgence. Why? To keep his reputation? To keep his wife from being hunted? Either of those options he felt were true.

And yet… looking at Kululu just then, the way he was sobbing and completely devastated, Fuyuki still couldn't hate him. _Would I have reacted the same way, if Momoka died and then came back acting like she didn't even know who I was?_ he wondered. Then he blushed. _W-Well it's not like Momoka and I were ever married, so… that makes it different! Right?_

He wasn't sure. He probably still would act the same, now that he thought about it. So he couldn't hate Kululu for betraying everyone by not telling them the angels would come back. Besides, the angels weren't even posing a threat right now. Yes, they had kidnapped them, but what were they going to do?

Breathing a sigh, Fuyuki stood up and walked over to Kululu, giving him the one thing he could give at the moment. He wrapped his arms around him and gave him a comforting hug.

Kululu paused for a moment, confused, and then promptly continued wailing.

"Um… there, there." Fuyuki pat him on the back.

"She can't remember me…. She can't remember me at all!" Kululu was blubbering in Fuyuki's arms.

Fuyuki knew he'd never see Kululu in the same light again, after this. But he offered him all the comfort he could in the time being. "That's just what dying does to people, Kululu. You can't control how they change after they've died and come back."

Kululu just wailed louder. "She doesn't even remember meeeee!"

"Oh, come on! Don't be like that!" Fuyuki tried to use his Powers of Optimism to help Kululu stop soaking Fuyuki's shirt with his tears. "She's not dead anymore, isn't she? You can finally see her again now! She just needs to have her memory jogged."

Kululu seemed to get an idea.

"Um, without any more kissing, though."

"Oh." Kululu frowned. He sniffled and wiped some tears from his face, tearing himself away from Fuyuki. He put his hand on his chin, thinking. "Something…. Something was bound to go wrong in the regeneration process. And it just happened to be Mois's memory of me. Which is… particularly important to our relationship. Oh, and also if I want to live." He smacked his fist into his palm. "Ah. I know just how to solve this, and just who to blame!"

Fuyuki gave a laugh. That wasn't exactly what he had wanted Kululu to say, but at least he wasn't crying anymore.

"And by the way, Fuyuki…" Kululu started.

"Yes?"

There was a gleam of malice in his eyes. "I'll have to kill you if you tell anyone what you've learned today."

Fuyuki gulped. _Even after I comfort him…. I guess Kululus will be Kululus._ "My lips are sealed. I know that people would try to kill you if they found out about this scandal. And I still haven't told anyone about how they could become Demon King if they killed you." He offered him a smile of assurance, knowing how much he loved his wife and how much he needed to not die if he wanted to get her to remember him.

Kululu smiled back slightly, then went back to his usual glum expression. "I'll be taking the body now."

When Kululu opened Fuyuki's eyes, it was already night, and all the demons and humans were asleep. Half of the angels were, too, and the other half were either keeping watch or driving.

"Fuyuki, you're awake," Momoka whispered. She was one of the only people there who was awake still. "You went out like a light for more than—"

"Shut it, richie," Kululu whispered as he started undoing his chains. "I'm kind of busy right now."

"Oh." Momoka frowned, realizing it was Kululu. She crossed her arms and turned away from him.

When Kululu finally got the chains undone, he stood up and began to leap to various different carts and four-wheelers.

"Hey! He can't do that!" one of the angels whispered.

"Shh. If he falls off, he'll just die and then he won't be our problem anymore, Bob," said another angel.

Kululu eventually made it to the cart he was looking for. He crouched down in front of the blue-haired teen they'd seen yesterday and punched her in the arm. "Hey. Wake up."

The girl woke up and looked at him sleepily. "What do you need?"

"I need you to take your stupid curse off," he told her.

"Th-the curse?" She looked a bit startled. "I'm not cursed! I'm just naturally unlucky!"

Kululu looked confused. "The heck you talkin' about? Ku ku ku. You _cursed_ me!"

She paused for a moment, then nodded. "Ah. You must be referring to my demon, Rinono. I myself am actually Rei Kinoshita, from the town of—"

"Snore. Whatever, get me Rinono," Kululu demanded.

Rei frowned, as if she was silently willing for Rinono to curse him again. But she complied, and Rinono was soon looking at him.

" 'Kay thanks, person. Hey Rinono, lift your stupid curse," he said.

Rinono frowned at him and shook her head. "You'll never learn to be more polite, will you?"

"Can't say it's one of my top priorities. So are ya gonna lift the curse or what?" he asked.

"Which curse was this again?"

"You know, the one where you told me that everyone I ever loved would leave me? I know that was definitely a curse, because you curse people. Ku ku ku. And it kind of actually came true, and now I'm in a pretty crummy situation. Well, so are you, because I'm angry right now."

She put out her hand as if to stop him. "Don't threaten me, Kululu. You have to learn that threatening people won't get you your way."

Kululu groaned. "Can you _please_ lift the curse?"

"No," Rinono said.

He was shocked. "What? Why? I said _please_."

"You don't understand, do you?" she asked him, a bit louder. People in the cart began to stir, so she hushed her tone. "For one, you kind of deserve it with the way you've been acting. You know, I actually started to forgive you, several thousands of years ago, for what you did. You were just a demon pup. You didn't know what you were doing. But then, do you know what happened? You started acting like a jerk. You started parading around like the demon realm was yours."

"But… it was," he said. And that wasn't called acting like a jerk, it was called growing up.

"Well, specifications aside, I still can't lift the curse, second of all, because I simply can't lift curses in the first place." She sighed. "You know I can't, Kululu. I can only make curses with my horns, not break them."

"Should have been the other way around," he muttered.

Rinono frowned at him. "Third of all, the curse requires you to have actually loved someone at some point, in order for them to leave you. And you can't love people."

He snarled. "Wow. Ku ku ku. That was pretty rude."

"Really? Who was this person, anyway?" she asked.

"Uh…" Kululu thought a moment. "…just somebody… from long ago."

"Great," she breathed. "Look. If you really want to lift the curse, you're just gonna have to lift it on your own, Kululu. I can't help you any more than that."

Kululu glared at her. "Thanks for being useless. Again!"

As he left her cart to return to his own and sulk, Rinono let out another sigh and thought to herself, _That Kululu…. He avoids me for thousands of years and then finally speaks to me again, only to try to further himself in life! When will he see this whole thing is absurd?_

But Kululu was a stubborn one. Some people never fully grew up.

* * *

Due to how fast the four-wheelers traveled, when everyone awoke, they were surprised to find themselves in the angels' base, some unfamiliar-looking town.

"Wait, I know this place!" Koyuki realized.

"Really?" asked Dororo. "How come, Koyuki?"

"How could I ever forget it? I lived here till I was six." She breathed in the familiar scents. "This is my town, Dororo. This is Drune, the town of the angel worshippers."

"Drune…" Dororo repeated, looking out at all the small wood houses.

"So… what's going to happen to us?" Koyuki asked the closest angel to her, who happened to be Mois.

"Well, it will work like this," Mois said cheerfully. "Since humans have become so sinful in the past year, I'm going to judge which souls to exterminate and which ones not to!"

Momoka paled and clutched Fuyuki's hand through her chains. "This sounds dangerous, Fuyuki. Can't you get Kululu to do something, as the Demon King?"

"Uhhhh I don't think Kululu's going to be much of a help against her," Fuyuki admitted.

"Why? How come?"

He just coughed.

"However," Mois said loudly, for everyone to hear, "on our war committee, we have decided that demons are _still_ sinful creatures, so we'll have to just exterminate some of them, too."

"What? What have _we_ done?" asked Giroro.

"Oh. It's something about your Nishizoozoo Contract, I think—"

"NishiZAWA Contract!" Momoka corrected.

"Sorry, you could say, what she said? Anyway, since demons have been keeping so many secrets from their hosts and humans in general, we've decided that they have taken far too much of an advantage in the loopholes of the contract and that the universe would be better off without their never-ending toxicity." She flashed them all a smile. "Who was it that used the contract to start taking advantage of the humans in the first place?"

All the demons in the area looked at Kululu. Fuyuki's face paled under Kululu's command.

"Ah." She cast her three eyes toward him coldly. "You could say, no surprise there?"

"But who are you to judge our contract?" Momoka challenged. "This contract is between demons and humans, not the angels. If it is anyone's fault for the loopholes in the contract, it is mine. Like I said, I was just about to form a new contract with the Demon King till _you_ showed up."

"Yes, but you're saying you would _trust_ the Demon King to make a contract, and that's kind of a problem there," she pointed out. "You yourself seem like a very sweet and reliable human. Perhaps there is another demon representative who might be able to form the contract in lieu of the Demon King?"

A figure (chained up, of course) stood up amongst the crowd. "I shall do it."

"B-big brother?" Giroro sputtered. "But—"

"I know the Demon King best out of anyone here," Garuru offered. "I know the kinds of tricks he would pull. So I shall form the contract in his place."

"That's not fair," Kululu complained. "I don't like this arrangement." He wanted to mention that he wasn't even the one who formed the contract in the first place, and in actuality it was a little demon pup who didn't know what he was doing, but that would have looked really bad for him. He could see Tamama snickering at him, though.

"Very well. Somebody unchain those two," Mois commanded.

Garuru and Momoka were unchained and they went off to form a new contract together.

As everybody was distracted, Kululu stood up and hesitantly made his way over to Mois. "Hey… um… can I talk to you?" he asked as quietly as he could. All night, he had been thinking about her, thinking about how to handle their situation, lamenting her missing memories.

She turned away from him, refusing to speak. "I won't fall for any more of your psychological mind games, Demon King!"

"No. No mind games this time," he promised.

Because Mois was very gullible, she relented. "Fine."

Gleefully, he took her aside, behind one of the wooden huts. "Look… about yesterday…." He made a playful finger-gun sign at her. "You totally caught me! You saw right through my little prank!"

Mois absorbed this for a second. She looked so relieved. "I knew it!" she said. "You could say, gut instinct?"

"Ku ku ku! That's right!" He smiled as he gazed at her, just so happy to finally be able to see her again. He had a sudden burst of confidence. Maybe things really could work out in the end for them, after all. He couldn't wait for that day. "Ain't I a funny guy!"

"Not really," she replied with a smile. "It was a pretty obvious trick. _Anyone_ could have seen through it. You know, they all talk about you like you're some sort of super genius, Mr. Demon King, but you really don't seem like one to me."

She said it so honestly, so politely, so frankly, that Kululu could practically feel the arrow of dissent digging into his heart. If he had a heart.

"Oh… okay," he responded, keeling on the ground as he clutched his heart in pain.

In front of the wooden hut, they heard the crowd cheering.

"The contract must be done," said Mois with another melt-your-already-wounded-heart smile. "Better go check it out." With a swish of her hand, Kululu was chained up again, and Mois walked over to the commotion.

"Ku. Idiots. Nobody can finish a contract in that short amount of time," Kululu muttered to keep himself from crying.

" _Maybe Garuru's a quick thinker. He is your advisor, after all… well, mock advisor_ ," Fuyuki said.

"Nonsense. He's as smart as a potato. And anyway, it takes _days_ to write up a contract if you really want it to last," said Kululu. "And then there's the drafting process. Ku ku ku. They have no idea how _any_ of this is supposed to work."

He unchained himself and walked back to the crowds just as Mois finished reading the incredibly short contract. "Wow!" she said, her eyes sparkling. "Great job, but I think it needs a bit more improvement. But don't worry! I know you can do it!"

Garuru and Momoka groaned, then edited some things. They handed it back to her.

"Well, it does look better," Mois had to admit. "Is this the contract that you'll be sticking with? Are you certain with your decision?"

Momoka and Garuru looked at each other, then nodded.

"Okay, then! Here's to paving a brighter path for the future of demonkind and humankind alike!" Mois handed it back to them.

"So… does this mean you angels will let us go and not kill us?" Natsumi asked hopefully.

Mois smiled and gripped her staff. "Nope! Not at all!" She turned to the angels behind her. "Take all our friends here to some prison cells, and unchain them. And as for the Demon King…." She slipped a glower at him, seeing him with no chains _yet again_. "Make sure he gets the highest-security prison."

"Yes, Messenger of Derp," they gladly said.

Everyone became quickly terrified again as they were dragged off.

What were these heartless monsters and what had they gotten themselves into?


	23. An Eye for an Eye

**Sorry, my sister asked for a lot of things in this chapter, so I didn't have as much room for creative freedom/Kululu and Fuyuki things.**

 **Btw. New summary has spoilers for next chapter, but goes with the arc.**

 **And yeah Villetta Nu, Angol Mois is my favorite character in sgt frog. =)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **(Villetta Nu:**

 **The story is called Shattered Wings because it took us a week to think of a title and finally I decided "It would be cool to have the word 'shattered' in the title," and then we added on 'wings' because the angels become fallen angels later in the story and I think it sounded like a cool title also. So it's not completely relevant, it just sounds cool, but we try to make it slightly relevant sometimes.**

 **-Scissors)**

* * *

Kululu was dragged, kicking and laugh-screaming down to the dungeons of the town, for the highest security prison. He was quickly chained up as he was put behind the bars and glass.

"This sucks!" Fuyuki cried. It didn't look like there were any other cells near him, so the only one he could plot with on how to get out of this situation was Kululu. And Kululu seemed distracted by things that he deemed more important, but really weren't when it came down to it.

 _I hope Momoka's going to be okay._ He really hated to be away from Momoka so long, with no news as to what was happening to her. She had made the new contract, though. Perhaps that was enough to let her be freed by the terrible angels.

Nah... the angels were pretty evil, or at least that's what he had heard. Although the Messenger of Death seemed pretty ditzy and air-headed herself, the rest of the angels were probably still a force to be reckoned with. Kululu not warning anyone about them coming out had turned out to be a bad decision, after all.

"How do you like your cell, Mr. Demon King?" Mois asked, walking down the stairs to greet Kululu. She seemed to want to make sure that he wasn't trying to break out.

"Over-the-top with chains. What is with you guys and these things?" Kululu asked, taking control to speak with her. Fuyuki could feel Kululu's eyes linger mournfully on her face, as if he was just savoring able to see her facial muscles move again to speak to him. He seemed to be collecting the moments in his head to hoard them, in case an emergency happened.

"It's because that's all we can do, all us angels can conjure up chains, varying in style and strength based on our personal tribe and family," she said.

Kululu paused. "I don't remember any of you having chain powers."

"We didn't," she said. "But thanks to you killing all of us, we do. You see, when the angels reincarnated, all of our powers disappeared thanks to the angels being technically gone. However, to represent our sins of failure, we gained one power, the ability to conjure up chains. It's something that comes in handy, but is something we wish we didn't have. You could say, out with the new, in with the old?"

 _That's not how the saying goes..._ Fuyuki thought to himself. "But wait... I'm confused." It was Fuyuki's voice that was now speaking up. "When you came onto the battlefield, you were conjuring up those black orb things that destroyed stuff. Isn't that some of your old powers or something?"

Mois's eyes gleamed. "Very observant! Yes! Yes it is. So there's this, like loophole or something. I wasn't supposed to be able to make my own species extinct, but I did anyway. To do that, I needed my own power. Since I was the last one to die, by - from what the humans told me - the demon King's hand, I still have most of my powers intact. On a smaller scale, of course, but still. I'm more powerful than the rest of the angels! ...Still can't fly, though." She looked glum.

"I didn't kill you. You destroyed yourself, you do know that, right?" Kululu pointed out.

"I know... But it was your mind games that made me kill myself!" Mois accused. "I mean... why else would I destroy myself and my entire species?"

Kululu was silent. She wouldn't believe him, even if he said it.

"Can I ask you something?" Fuyuki asked, thinking back on this whole angel experience. He still didn't understand something. "Why is it that you're called the Messenger of Derp?"

Mois seemed to take offense to that insecurity being pried into. "Obviously it's because I fell for the Demon King's mind games! I doomed us all, when everyone was counting on me." She looked disappointed. "But just like how we failed in purifying this world, and how we must pay for our sin by giving up our wings, I will pay for the sin of failing my species by being called the Messenger of Derp... Even if it means being ridiculed everyday I'm prepared to pay for my sins." She tried to look strong about the whole "Messenger of Derp" thing. "When I finally kill the demons and humans, hopefully this whole thing will be put behind me. And I can finally stop being the Messenger of Derp."

"I'm sorry." Fuyuki realized quickly it was Kululu who was apologizing. "I had no idea that it was this tough for you."

"I'm not so weak that ridiculing gets to me anymore. I know your jerk tricks, Demon King. So don't go thinking that making fun of me will be helping you out. I've developed a resistance," Mois bragged.

Kululu looked at her sadly.

"And anyway..." she continued, "they still need me. So no matter how many weird names they call me, they'll listen to everything I have to say. I'm kind of like their princess! Princess of their destruction, but princess nonetheless... Nah, more like princess out of necessity," she gabbed on.

"And you know what they say about princesses - " Kululu was cut off by Mois, who seemed to finish the sentence for him.

"They always find their prince charming! I know!" She beamed.

Kululu also seemed to grin. He'd heard her say this before, ten thousand years ago. She was pretty obsessed with her fairy tale romances.

"Well, I only see one other member of royalty here..." Kululu casually said over to the jail bars. Fuyuki cracked internally from the amount of bad flirting.

"Yes! My demon prince, Bibbledabbledoo!" Mois enthusiastically replied.

Kululu fell over for a moment. "Who?"

"Bibbledabbledoo," Mois repeated. "My lover. We met by chance, he declared his eternal love for me, I for him and we swore to be together forevermore. We realized fate had brought us together. It was so romantic," she told him.

Kululu's jaw opened. Who was this guy who was moving in on his wife? "Who is this? Describe him," he ordered, his hands sparking with electricity.

"You know... he was with your group. He's the demon residing in the white-haired boy's body," Mois described. "The one with my old hat."

Kululu's eyes widened in shock. "Keroro?"

"That's his name? He said it was Bibbledabbledoo..." Mois was confused. "I suppose Keroro is a much better name for my demon prince."

Kululu just dropped to the ground in shock. Mois had returned to him alive... But she was interested in freakin' Keroro of all people? She had a crush on Keroro?

He felt heartbroken.

 _No... This can't be..._ He tried to calm himself. It would be so much harder for him to get her to remember him if she was focused on someone else. "...You don't remember anything from your past life... Do you?" he asked.

"I remember flying. I miss that." She glared at Kululu, who she still blamed for the loss of her wings.

He could tell. This entire town was just covered by sculptures of wings and pictures of wings and wings everywhere. It was like everybody was majorly in love with wings.

"I'm sorry," he apologized again. "But... I mean... do you remember _anything_ about me? If you focus _really_ hard, do you remember the Demon King from your own memories instead of what people have told you about me?"

Mois shook her head. "Why should I?"

Fuyuki came into the conversation to try to help Kululu out. "Because I'm assuming you plan to kill Kululu. Why don't you at least give him his request."

Mois thought a moment. "Might as well, it would give me a better reason to kill you, and would make it more fulfilling." She shrugged. Closing her eyes, she tried to focus on the memories that seemed to be distantly locked away. After a good minute and a half, she opened her eyes again.

"Actually, I do remember you a little bit. At least I remember you being in a jail cell, like this one. You could say, good enough?" Mois smiled.

Kululu frowned. That jail cell memory wasn't exactly one that carried around the best connotations. He was only in a jail cell so she could escape after her imprisonment.

"But I don't understand... Why were you naked?" she asked.

Kululu blushed. "You know what? I don't actually want you to remember that. Stop," he begged.

Fuyuki covered his virgin ears. Well... now he knew way too much about what had happened in Kululu's supposed jail scene. Way too much... He regretted everything.

Mois left Kululu to his chains, as he crumpled in humiliation.

* * *

Mois went to the town square after meeting with Kululu. Hearing a commotion, she hurried her pace to see what was going on.

"You're planning to kill us? You can't! The demons and humans have made peace now, and are no longer as sinful. With our contract, the affair is sorted out." Garuru had elected himself leader in Kululu's stead as he addressed one of the angels.

"The contract will be used between the demons and humans who pass inspection and are allowed to live on this world. It is no longer reasonable to kill all," an angel tried to explain to him calmly. "Do not fret. Ten percent of your race may still live."

"That's 90% percent that you're killing off!" Garuru roared in outrage. He tried to approach the angel and attack, to free his people. A three-headed angel was hit by Garuru's chains and opened her mouths to breathe poison on him, but only a pathetic hairball was shot out instead, due to having no powers.

Mois shook her head sadly as Garuru took out two three-headed angels, and a skeleton angel that could only stab things now instead of teleport.

"Stop," she ordered, quickly tapping her staff on the ground. "Freeze, or else everyone in the vicinity is dying. I can do it with just a word."

She then separated Garuru and the angels with a black orb that she summoned, expanding and exploding in Garuru's face, singing his clothes and hair.

Summoning extra chains, she trapped him on the ground so that he could not move at all now. "Your souls will decide your fate over who lives and who dies. The sinful ones will die, and the good ones will live. You..." She pointed at Garuru. "...are sinful for attacking us. You will die."

The angels applauded and laughed at the now very chained up Garuru who couldn't move his legs.

"Now... who's next?" she asked. She was ready to do some judging.

* * *

Natsumi huddled next to Giroro as soul after soul was judged.

"I'm dead," she told him.

"No...No you aren't." He tried to comfort her.

"No, I am. After all, just a little while ago I was just like that monster..." Natsumi narrowed her eyes as she saw Mois choose whether someone would go to the dungeons for death or a different dungeon for just safekeeping. Sometimes she would get bored of how filled the dungeons were, though, and just slaughter someone and then smile like it was no big deal.

Sometimes she would choose someone to live just because she wanted to. It was just like Natsumi choosing Giroro as the exception to demons. This happened for Keroro's case.

"My demon prince!" She flung her arms around him in an embrace. "Your soul's still a little on the bad side, but that doesn't matter to me! We can still get married with no trouble whatsoever!"

"M-married?" Keroro stuttered out. He didn't want to get married.

"Yep. We can repopulate my dead race! It'll be great," she told him.

" _HAHAHAHA. SUCKS TO BE YOU!_ " Saburo laughed in Keroro's head, offering little help.

"We'll have to kill your human host though, don't worry. I can make sure I kill just him now you so you can keep the body... And then our lovey dovey life will begin!" She grinned.

Saburo paled. " _Wait... What? She's going to kill me?_ "

Mois then daintily placed her lips on Keroro's in a kiss. Keroro was in utter shock at this horror.

" _Help me..._ " he begged Saburo. " _Help me out of this, man. You got me into the mess, after all._ "

" _Fine. I'll help. We have to find a way to escape. I'm not going to die for your hat!_ " Saburo proclaimed. This seemed like such a big mistake.

"Hehehe... my second kiss. Much better than my first one." Mois touched her lips, happily. It had been a true fairy tale kiss, something innocent and loving, and not nearly as tongue-filled and heated as her first.

That kiss had been really weird.

"YOU WHORE!" Tamama yelled. "STAY AWAY FROM MY MAN!"

Mois giggled. "You move your mouth like words are coming out of it or something, it looks so cute!" She pat him on his head as he roared in anger. She didn't hear anything he was saying. "You can live, too! You could be like, my pet or something! You're so cute! And you've got such a nice tail!"

"I'm going to bite your hand off if you touch me again," Tamama threatened. Mois didn't hear him.

"Y-your second kiss?" Momoka was focusing on the wrong thing than the fact that she was kidnapped. "Who was your first?" She was just a little bit worried... The way Fuyuki had been talking about some kiss, except not one with her.. .Had he gone out and kissed someone else, or had the Demon king forced him to?

"Oh, that blue-haired guy with the weird antenna," Mois described. She didn't want the other angels to know that she had fallen for a trick of the Demon King's again when she had gone out into the forest with him. So she blamed it on Fuyuki. She didn't want everybody to laugh at her. This time, she'd be strong enough to overcome his mind games!

"AUGHH!" Momoka growled, breaking out of her steel chains. "YOU CAN ONLY STEAL ONE MAN. MINE OR TAMAMA'S! Who's it going to be?" She leaped at Mois like she was going to rip her throat out, tackling the girl to the ground.

Mois made a squeaking noise as Momoka tackled her to the ground. She struggled for a moment as the incredibly strong human tried to punch her, but she just simply tilted her head to the side.

"Let this soul freeze until I have figured out what to do with it," she ordered her staff. A light glowed and froze Momoka in place and Mois simply pushed her off, easily having overpowered the girl.

"She will have to die, too. I am sorry, but attacking someone unprovoked can not be tolerated," she decided. "Sorry! You're going to have to die. You could say, take her away!" Mois ordered. No Angels did so. They were trying to make more room in the dungeons, due to the large amount of people.

Momoka tried to struggle as she was frozen in place like a statue. Nobody listened to her yells, though. Mois merely looked toward Dororo, Giroro, Natsum,i and Koyuki, the next in line for her judgment.

"How could I have been so stupid?" Natsumi asked, looking up at Giroro. "I was just like her... killing people with just as little remorse. I was a monster... Just as bad as an angel."

Giroro looked at Natsumi with pity. She was finally realizing all the things she had done were wrong. And her crimes were now catching up to her.

"You have to move on from your crimes and look to the future, opposing greater threats," he told her. "Sure, you may have made your mistakes, but I did, too, by not talking to you sooner."

Natsumi hugged him.

"No matter what... No matter what judgment we ge,t or what happens, I will stick by your side until the end," he assured.

"Thanks, Giroro." Natsumi kissed him. He was glad she was finally paying attention to him.

"Huh... so you served time assassinating angels in the ancient war..." She looked at Dororo, judging him. "Death!"

Dororo frowned. He knew he was sinful, but he had hoped his current actions would have erased his past. But the past could not be erased. "You are going about things the wrong way. Sins can still be redeemed. People can change through redemption. The past may not change, but the future might."

Mois did not listen to him.

"Hmm... death for you, and you, too. Very sinful." She shook her head at Giroro and Natsumi, who were still hugging.

Finally, she turned to Koyuki. She looked a bit confused when she saw her. "You look like someone familiar..."

"I'm from this town. You may have seen my relatives walking around," Koyuki explained.

Mois nodded, smiling. "Oh! Then... what were you doing outside of town?"

"She looks like the maiden of our shrine," one of the angels told Mois. "Well, I mean, her clothes looks like a shrine maiden's..."

"Yes. I used to tend to the angel shrine out in the forest," Koyuki said. "I used to be one of your followers, although I did not know you had been reincarnated..."

Mois frowned. "You look so young to be a shrine maiden. When did you start your work?"

"When I was five," Koyuki told her. "I was given to the shrine when I was five and had little contact with people besides my dog, Zeroyasha."

Mois looked piteous for the poor girl. "And the humans of this town... abandoned a little girl to a life of loneliness? That's horrible! Even if it was for the angels!" She was horrified by the atrocity.

"Why did we worship the angels, anyway? Why wasn't I told that real-life angels were in my town?" Koyuki asked.

"Most of us angels hid, and it was only known to the adults that we were here," Mois told her. "The town of Drune worshipped angels because we started reincarnating here, as the children of the older humans of Drune."

 _Maybe... Maybe there's something not monstrous about her. Maybe the angel can be reasoned with,_ Natsumi hoped. Mois looked like she pitied Koyuki, after all.

"I've got it!" Mois smiled. "I'll right the wrongs that the humans of the town of Drune did to you!" With a twirl of her staff, she hit the ground.

Focusing strongly, a light surrounded her. Like lightning, the unchained humans that were walking around dropped dead all around Mois.

"Whew. All done! It was hard to focus on all the Drune human residents besides you, so I might have missed a few, but they're dead! All better!" She smiled, like she had done something amazing.

Everybody looked at horror at the dead bodies. Mois had killed her own worshipers!

"You can live freely now. You are the last one, and the wrongs have been repented." Mois smiled at Koyuki.

Koyuki backed away toward Dororo, horrified. Because of her words... thousands had died. Her mother and father had probably died, too.

"MESSENGER OF DERP!" the angels yelled. "Those were our worshipers! That was stupid of you!" they scolded, displeased.

Mois frowned. "Sorry! I won't do it again!" She promised. The angels continued to scold her.

There was a wailing sound in the background of the one being she had missed - a baby that had fallen down after his mother had been vaporized.

Thinking fast, as Mois was scolded, Garuru managed to throw his body toward the baby and grab it. _The angels may be cruel, but that girl can't be so cruel that she would kill an innocent child. I need to take charge and navigate the situation to free the other demons._ It would mean using an innocent baby as a hostage, but that was something necessary.

"HEY!" Garuru yelled at Mois, getting her attention. "Free the demons, or else I'll crush this innocent child," he threatened.

Mois stared at him blankly for a minute. "Oopsie! I missed one, didn't I?" she asked. "There's so many people here that it was hard to weave through all of them."

"Don't act so dumb! I just threatened you! Release us! Even you can't be so cruel that you would let a baby die!" Garuru yelled.

Mois's expression stopped being blank for a moment, to look at him coldly. "Good thing I hate babies, then." With a wave of her staff, the baby was gone. Killed with a single swing.

Garuru held the baby clothes in his hands, horrified at Mois's true evil. _She is evil itself... No wonder only the Demon King could face her. He's the only one strong enough to._

They needed the Demon King to aid him. This was a sad fact, but one that he had to face.

Everybody stared in horror at what Mois had done. "That... was horrifying." Momoka covered her face. She hoped someday to start a family with Fuyuki, so all she could think of was the image of hers and Fuyuki's future child. "How could you be so cruel?" she asked. "What if that had been _your_ child?"

Only Momoka's voice echoed throughout the town after the cruel act. Everybody else was just shocked and silent.

Mois turned to Momoka. Her eyes widened and tears formed in her eyes. "You guys deal with the rest. I have to go!" she ordered the rest of the angels.

"But Messenger of Derp... we need you!" they yelled back. But Angol Mois was already gone, running off, leaving a trail of tears behind her.

Yeah. Momoka was definitely going to die for that comment.

* * *

The quietest place in the town, sadly, was the highest security dungeon. And Mois's empty-headedness caused her to momentarily forget that she had placed the Demon King himself there.

So she went there to sob and cry.

 _What if it had been my child? What kind of a comment is that?_ Angol Mois thought to herself. If it had been her child, she knew exactly what would have happened.

It would have been a monster. A terrible, terrible monster.

* * *

It had been a year or two ago, when she was still a teen. She hadn't known what was happening to herself but for some reason her stomach was slowly enlarging, and her body felt sick, so very sick.

Trying to figure it out on her own, she wasn't sure what was happening to her body. All the books she read pointed to her being pregnant, but she had never to her knowledge gone through the process of making a child.

 _I suppose maybe it's a side effect of the reincarnation process,_ Mois thought to herself. She had heard of the other angels going through similar sudden experiences. Yes... Maybe whatever sickness was seeping some of her energy was because of that. After all, it had always sort of felt like another soul was inside of her.

However... she wondered, if she had been pregnant or something in her past life, what would have happened to the baby?

The baby would have probably been reincarnated too, but by a different couple, most likely.

Unless... she had died when she was pregnant.. Then what would have happened?

She didn't know. But one day, during her intense pain for her sickness, began to bleed heavily, abnormally, and so she walked out into the forest as if it was calling her.

She hadn't told anyone she was feeling sick. She was beginning to suspect that her theory that she might be pregnant was true. And she didn't know how to deal with that.

Sadly and all on her own, Mois's theory was confirmed as she spread her legs. With great pain and effort, something did come out. It was about the size of a newborn baby.

Mois screamed as it tore out of her, one of its hands ripping at her belly on its way out. The pain was so intense that she could barely move when it had fallen onto the grass below.

Looking down at her bare stomach, she saw a scar similar to the one on her back where her wings used to be. _Is this from pregnancy?_

She tried her hardest to get up and look at what seemed to be her child, the thing that had probably died with her in her past life.

In front of her was a horror that almost anyone could be sickened by, even the famed Messenger of Death.

A blood-splattered angel baby lay in the grass, but only half of one. The rest of its body seemed to have already rotten away, chunks of decaying flesh on it. Its third eye looked up at Mois, and the other two had fallen out of the child.

The last angel wing in existence flapped sadly on the child's back. It seemed to be the only thing that was wholly angel and could move.

Half of the child's face seemed to melt like acid in front of Mois, a few desperate vocal sounds being the last thing she heard as the baby's life gave away.

The flapping stopped a good two minutes after the rest of the body had rotted away. Finally, the feathers drifted in the wind.

Mois tried to drag herself away from the body of the child she knew was hers. It must have been her punishment for the greatest sin of all, having only a half-angel child so that only half of it could reincarnate. But she could not move. She was covered in her own blood, and her body was still in immense pain, both physically and emotionally from giving birth to the child, so she lay there.

She lay there for days before her town found her, naked and covered in her own blood, traumatized by the sight she had seen of only a half-reincarnated baby, the other half being purely dead and monstrous.

She hated babies after that. They only reminded her of the monster she had seen, and the scar that she tried to hide from the rest of her people.

* * *

Mois sniffled and vomited as she sobbed. Her eyes were unable to close as the images of her child from her previous life enveloped her mind.

Why... Why had she done it? What had made such a thing exist? She gripped her shirt, desperately letting it cling to her belly and her scar. Nobody needed to know.

"Mois! What's going on? Are you okay?" Kululu asked, seeing her cry and vomit into a bucket. She was shivering, her body wracked by sobbing fits. He caused Fuyuki's heart to clenchd at the sight.

She didn't respond to him, and just continued to sob.

Eventually Kululu, not knowing what else to do, started humming a lullaby to her from the older days. Back when they were married.

 _She always had a weakness for lullabies. They calmed her down no matter what the situation. And... if they don't, I'll know that the new Mois is truly a different Mois instead of my Mois._ She seemed to act different, after all. And into Keroro, of all people.

But he still knew her actions were probably the same. So he continued humming, trying to make it louder than her sobs.

Eventually her sobs started quieting down as her eyes drooped instead of being open in horror. She started humming along, too, to the calm tune. She even managed to scoot closer to Kululu to hear him hum even more.

Kululu calmly stroked her head, since she was sitting on the ground outside his cell. He combed through her hair with his fingers. She didn't realize how close he was. He just kept humming like she was a wild animal that he needed to calm so she wouldn't bite his hand off, when in actuality he was just so sad that she was sad.

" _It's working, Kululu! I think you're getting closer to her!_ " Fuyuki was a little happy for Kululu. Still, he didn't really want Kululu pursuing a relationship with the Messenger of Death herself while he was in his body.

"What happened? Are you all right?" Kululu asked calmly.

"Yeah... It's just that girl with short, spiky, blue hair said something really mean, and it got to me. But I guess it's all right. I mean, she's going to die for saying it, but she was going to die, anyway," Mois told him.

Kululu tilted her chin up to look at him. She seemed to be calmer now. She was always a lot more docile after a lullaby. He brushed his thumb up against the upper part of her cheek, wiping the tears off.

Mois let him.

" _Wait a minute... Is she talking about Momoka? Momoka's going to die?_ " Fuyuki realized in terror. He jumped into control, ruining Kululu and Mois's moment. "NO! You can't kill Momoka! She doesn't deserve it!"

Mois jerked her face away, Fuyuki's yelling breaking her calm demeanor. She got up, glaring at Kululu. "You were trying to trick me again."

"No! I just don't want Momoka to die! She's a good person, please... Release her. I'm begging you, she's nice."

"I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to him. The Demon King." Mois glared beyond Fuyuki at Kululu. "Speaking of the Demon King... I suppose I haven't judged his soul yet..." She gave a mean grin. She wouldn't let Kululu con her again!

" _Thanks a lot for breaking the mood, kid. I think she was finally starting to like me, but then now it's back to business._ " Kululu disapproved.

Fuyuki frowned as Mois looked at Kululu with her third eye. "Let's see... There's a lot of crimes here. Want me to read you some? You seemed to have tormented your adviser for merely wanting to protect his brother, you destroyed a town due to a temper tantrum, you got someone killed for making you fail a test, you almost killed someone else just for bugging you, you murdered the parents of a young child just to keep your reputation... And that's just some of them." Mois paused. "You even abandoned your people in their time of need! That's horrible!"

"You could say, that's the pot calling the kettle black?" Kululu used a proper idiom, giving a laugh.

"What do you mean?" Mois glared. Kululu just his mouth. "You're also a huge jerk and... most importantly... you stole my first kiss! Meanie!" She punched Kululu's chest lightly and childishly. "Yeah, you're definitely going to die," she said innocently now.

"What about me?" Fuyuki asked.

Mois shrugged. "I guess you can die with him. I didn't know you wanted to."

"I don't! I don't!" he told her.

"But you reminded me. Yeah, you're going to die, too," she decided. Fuyuki cried.

She turned away from Kululu.

"Where are you going?" Kululu asked. Did deciding his judgment calm her from her previous outburst?

"I'm going to Keroro. He'll comfort me," she decided. _Yes... after all, I need to move forward with him from my dislike of my sinful baby if I am going to have a future with him and wipe away my sin._

Kululu was left all alone in his shock. Yeah. He definitely didn't know how to fix Mois's memories or save his and Fuyuki's lives.

* * *

"Keroro!" Mois threw herself into Keroro's arms yet again. Keroro and Tamama weren't in a cell, but they were under house arrest in one of the previous houses of Drune's residents.

Mois cuddled up to him.

"Shouldn't you be stealing Momochi's man instead?" Tamama growled. Right now, Momoka was all alone dealing with her love triangle. He didn't like it. If Mois was going to be part of a love triangle, she could only choose one. Not both him and Momoka's lives!

"I don't want him! I want Keroro!" Mois snuggled up closer. After nearly squeezing the life out of him, she let Keroro go. She wiggled her fingers around in a drawer and produced an item of candy.

"If you leave me and my Demon Prince alone for a moment, I'll give you this," she waved, trying to bribe Tamama.

"Not for all the candy in the world," Tamama hissed. He looked at her with hatred.

"So... what's your name?" she asked.

"You don't remember, you dumb broad?"

"Well, of course I don't. I don't remember anything from my past life. Did we meet? I bet I thought you were a cutie then, too!" Mois smiled, handing him the lollipop. Tamama bit into it.

"You... You don't remember anything?" Tamama was trying to process this. He smiled. He hated the Messenger of Death. And he hated her even more, now that she was moving in on his man, but he still hated Kululu for what he had done to him.

And what was better than having his two most hated enemies destroy each other? Nothing in the world. Not even a triple fudge sundae... Well, maybe a triple fudge sundae.

"You ever kiss anyone, woman?" Tamama asked. "Well, I mean, do yo remember kissing anyone in your past life?"

"No. But in this life I kissed Keroro and that awful, awful guy... He stole my first kiss!" Mois covered her lips, horrified again.

"Kululu?" Tamama asked. Mois gave a hesitant nod. Tamama leaned over and whispered to her, for only her to hear. "That wasn't the only thing he stole from you, you know."

"Oh no! He must have stolen my socks! So that's why I can't find a pair that match!" she looked shocked. Kululu must have sneaked into her town years ago and started being a sock thief.

"No! I mean... in the past, I remember you were Kululu's prisoner for a time... and he stole something else precious from you."

Mois blinked. "He stole socks... instead of fighting a war?" She was still confused.

Tamama leaned closer to her, so Keroro couldn't hear as he tried to get his body out a window. "No... you two did inappropriate things together... You know, that involves moaning."

Mois tried to think back to her past life. "Chess?" she asked, still not understanding.

"What kind of chess you been playin', woman? Gross," Tamama told her. "No... I mean, you two did sexy things. And Kululu put a baby in your oven. I mean tummy."

Mois's jaw dropped open. It had been the Demon King himself that created that monstrosity in her?

Tears flickered off her eyelashes as she covered her mouth. "It can't be... how do you know?"

"You were pregnant on the war front. It was no watermelon. It was a baby!" Tamama was still shocked by this fact. Honestly, Mois was, too.

 _So... not only did he con me to kill my people... he coerced me into sleeping with him, too, and I got pregnant from it?_ She had been his prisoner, and he had done such awful things to her. Such awful things that had scarred her for life.

She turned her back on Tamama, her cape swishing behind her. "I have to go."

She had known the baby she had made was half-angel. She had known Kululu was evil. But she had always hoped in her heart that she had been in love in her past life, and had just been young and foolish with someone.

But it wasn't anything like that. It was something much worse.

She left the house after closing the window so Keroro couldn't escape.

"Awww..." Keroro snapped his fingers, distressed.

* * *

"So... uhh... Kululu..." Fuyuki tried to make conversation with Kululu. "I know you want to win over your wife again, and although she creeps me out, I think we should set up some rules... Like what you can or can not do in my body."

" _Ku, ku, ku. No rules. I do what I want,_ " Kululu told him.

"No kissing," Fuyuki told him. "And no making any more babies, either."

" _But... But it's been ten thousand years since I kissed her!_ " Kululu complained. " _One kiss isn't enough to satisfy me from that wait."_

"It's my body," Fuyuki told him. "And you've had plenty of other kisses, like with Tamama and Natsumi."

" _Please don't tell her about Tamama. I just needed to shut him up, and yeah... Don't tell her about Natsumi, either. I was being stupid and I thought Natsumi was her but it was still bad._ "

"But what about everybody else you flirted with and had affairs with? Those should satisfy you."

" _Didn't exist. I lied to you. I was only trying to figure out where she was. That was what all the flirting was for_ ," he explained.

Fuyuki paused for a moment. Kululu must have really loved his wife. If something happened, and Kululu managed to get her to like him again, he was totally getting revenge for all the cock-blocking he had done to him and Momoka.

Speaking of the devil, the door to the hallway of Kululu's cell opened, and Mois walked in. She looked glum and solemn.

"Mois? What do you need?" Kululu asked. She was seeing him an awfully lot today. Not that he minded. He would always take the opportunity to gaze upon her lovely face.

She went up to him, straight up to him so only the bars were separating their bodies. He could look straight into her eyes because their faces were so close.

He closed his eyes, instinctively. Was she going to kiss him or something?

He felt something sharp greet his gut instead. "That's where a uterus would be, wouldn't it?" she asked. She took the knife in her hand out and stabbing again.

Kululu backed away, shocked.

" _Kululu! Kululu! What's going on?_ " Fuyuki asked. He was getting dizzy from blood loss. Kululu, instead of walking back, started walking toward her again as he processed her words. She stabbed him three more times, and blood covered his shirt. " _Kululu! I know she's your wife, but stop this! You are the Demon King! Use your powers to stop letting her stab you!_ "

"No," Kululu responded to Fuyuki alone. "I promised myself long ago that if she ever wanted to honestly kill me, I would let her. And... I'm beginning to suspect why she wants me dead."

"You could say, an eye for an eye?" She stabbed him one more time, before he fell over. The last thing he saw before darkness greeted him was blood covering her hands.


	24. Who Done it?

**Sorry about all the grammar mistakes last chapter, the document manager was not being very cooperative. Hence the silly typo of, "Kululu just his mouth." It was supposed to be "Kululu just shut his mouth." But anyway.**

 **Warning: This chapter has a lot of exposition, so sue me, nyeh.**

 **-Scissors**

* * *

 _Mois… you silly…. I don't have a uterus,_ Kululu thought to himself as Fuyuki's body grew weaker and weaker from the pain and loss of blood. But he knew why she had stabbed him. He knew it had something to do with the baby, probably her grief over it. He didn't think she remembered anything from ten thousand years ago, so that only pointed to one possibility. The kid must have somehow reincarnated in her, but with negative side effects.

Just how negative those "side effects" were, he didn't know. It was a thought that struck him with horror and guilt. _She had to go through all of that… alone. I wasn't there with her._

It was all his fault.

* * *

This was all Kululu's fault.

 _I don't care what promises he made to his wife in the past_ , thought Fuyuki, _this is MY body and he can't just let people keep stabbing me! It's common courtesy to not do that!_

But there was little time for him to be angry, because he felt his life slipping out of his hands. Fuyuki pressed his hand against the wall, trying desperately to bring himself to a sitting position. His hand slid down in futility, leaving a bloody smudge. He couldn't do anything right now, he couldn't see anything. He was even starting to forget how to breathe.

Before he knew it, dizziness overtook him and Fuyuki's head fell to the floor. His anger at Kululu was the last thought he had.

* * *

When the Angil guardians, a branch of angels who wore heavy armor, came by Kululu and Fuyuki's high-security cell in the morning, they were shocked at the sight they found. Kululu and Fuyuki were dead on the floor in a pool of their own blood.

"Only one person could have done this," said an Angil as he pushed open the door to the cell. "It had to be the Messenger of Derp. Couldn't be anyone else."

Another angel turned him over and sighed in relief. "Ah, well, at least he's dead now."

The end.

* * *

Fuyuki began to cough and sputter.

"Wait a second, he's alive!" the Angil realized in horror. "Oh drat, that Mois. She couldn't even finish the job…!"

"The Messenger of Derp… stabbed me," Fuyuki wheezed out. "Please help me…" he pleaded. "I'm not Kululu. I'm Fuyuki Hinata."

Awkwardly, the Angils dropped him back to the floor and closed the cell door, leaving.

* * *

The angels were so cruel. Fuyuki's heart just sank and sank, the hope withering away from him. All he could do now was stare at the ceiling, waiting for death to finally claim his body. It was over now. He'd had his chance at life. Now, he wouldn't even be able to make it to the Demon Fight. He wouldn't be able to see Momoka, or his sister, or his mom, ever again. This was the end of him.

He wanted to cry, to wail out in misery, but there wasn't nearly enough strength in him to do so.

The pain was just so intense.

He shut his eyes tightly, wishing that death could be faster for him. He wasn't used to being in pain. This was practically torture.

Finally, everything began to numb, and Fuyuki felt himself drifting away again.

A voice broke into his head. "…in here! He's in here, you guys!"

"How do you know? We can't even get in there!"

"I saw him through a window. Just punch the door down! You like punching things, right?"

"Well… okay."

 _BAM!_

Light seeped into the room, and Fuyuki was just barely able to open his eyes enough to see the silhouettes of someone with a hat, someone with pigtails, and someone with very large horns.

"Oh, my god, Fuyuki!" Natsumi rushed up to him. "Don't worry, we'll get you out of here!" She started inspecting the edges of the high-security cell to try and find someway to break in. No use. She was able to see him through the thick glass, although there were some rectangular windows in the glass at some spots. She pounded on it, trying to get it to crack. Giroro walked up beside her and sent a mighty kick to the glass, but it did nothing more than vibrate it a little.

"I don't think we have much time left!" Saburo yelled. "The angels could come after us any second. Come on, get him out!"

Natsumi and Giroro continued beating up the glass and iron bars, but nothing was working.

"Don't worry, Fuyuki." Saburo crouched down and stroked his hair, moist from sweat, through the bars of the prison where there was no glass. "You'll be okay." He stood up and ran his hand through his own hair in distress. His expression changed as Keroro took over.

"It sure would have been a lot more convenient if they just left the keys on the wall or something," he joked.

"Yeah, well, they _didn't_." Natsumi was sweating and panting heavily as she continued trying to break down the glass.

As Keroro watched them, he kicked at a pebble, not knowing how to help. However, that pebble just so happened to ricochet off the wall and fall in a bucket, which brought down a lever, which caused a barrel of the townspeople's sacred water to fall on the iron bars, which miraculously caused them to rust and shatter, allowing an entrance into the prison through which Natsumi was able to reach her arms inside and drag Fuyuki out of.

Giroro scoffed. "That was lucky."

Keroro just put his hands behind his head and laughed nervously. "What are you talking about? I totally _planned_ that!"

"Fuyuki! Please wake up!" Natsumi begged, stroking her hands on his cheeks. "One of you! Come help me carry Fuyuki back to the house."

Saburo took over. "We can't go back," he said. "They'll put us in house arrest again! And then they'll take Fuyuki back here!"

"We'll hide him, then," she said. "It's all we can do for now. We don't have any other choice. We have to heal my brother, as soon as possible."

"All right." Giroro understood that Fuyuki was more important than their escape, and so he helped carry him back to the house that Natsumi and he were locked in.

* * *

When Fuyuki awoke, he still couldn't quite sit up from all the pain in his gut. He lifted up the blanket that was over him and saw large, blood-soaked bandages covering his lower abdomen.

"It was the best we could do." Natsumi stroked his head.

Giroro growled. "He's not going to make it at this point. He needs a hospital."

Fuyuki started to panic. He really was going to die? And there was nothing anyone could do?

"Don't worry, at least I know some first-aid," Giroro assured him. "It's necessary for the battlefield. Saburo, go get him some food."

Saburo came back shortly with food and drink for Fuyuki that they had found in the house. Giroro instructed Fuyuki to ingest them slowly, and he did.

"Wh-what's going on?" he finally asked when he was feeling a bit better.

Keroro took over Saburo's body to explain. "Well, I figured out a way to escape the house that Tamama and I were in," he told him. "The Messenger of Derp visited earlier and it turned out that she'd forgotten to lock the door when she left. Lucky, huh?"

Fuyuki just wanted to cry. He wish he could have been that lucky. Lucky enough to not get stabbed.

"I wanted to go out and escape with Tamama, but then Saburo wanted to check on you instead, so I asked Tamama to come with and he was like 'Nooo way' and so I was like 'kay bye then Tamama' and I saw you through the window and you were bleeding, so then I went into this house to try and get your sister and Giroro to come help, but everything was locked so I had to come down the chimney and they laughed at me." He frowned. "My hat is fine, though. That's what's important."

"Thanks," said Fuyuki with a laugh. Keroro was so funny. Then he stopped laughing, because it hurt. And he could have sworn he felt some more blood squirting from his wound. Yup, there was definitely some squirting.

Natsumi left to go get him a new blanket, and Giroro changed his bandages for him.

"Now it's your turn to tell us what happened, Fuyuki," Saburo asked.

Fuyuki nodded. "It was the Messenger of Derp. I think she wanted to kill Kululu. So she stabbed us in the uterus."

"You don't have a uterus, Fuyuki," Natsumi told him.

"Well, you know what I mean." Fuyuki's stomach clenched at the memory. He'd been so shocked to actually find out what it felt like to be stabbed. Not that he had ever wanted to know.

"All right. Just get some rest," Natsumi begged him, stroking his head.

* * *

It was a lucky thing that the couple of angels who visited him in the morning were making sure that nobody else went to the Demon King's dungeon, so that they wouldn't be chewed out for being so irresponsible. Because of this, Natsumi and Giroro were able to take care of Fuyuki. Keroro went back to the original house he was at to try to convince Tamama to escape.

However, later that evening, a different group of angels did go down to the dungeons to check up on the Demon King, and they were not pleased to find him missing.

"This is all your fault!" they accused the first group. "You were here this morning! You let them escape!" With a swish of their hands, they chained them up.

"Haha, you can't do anything to us." One of the Angyls stuck out his three tongues at him. "Besides, it's not our fault that the Demon King left. It's Mois's for not taking out his soul the second we came into contact with him."

An angel from the other group growled. "Yes, but it's not like there's anything _we_ can do about it. She's the only one left with any useful powers…." She clenched her fist.

Another angel perked up as a thought occurred to them. "I'm sure we can find some of our old weapons in town," they suggested. "In the museum or something."

"Yeah, that'd be handy."

They left the other chained-up angels to go search for their things. They did find a few of their old weapons, and they found some new devices, as well, that had been confiscated from the humans.

"They call this a 'cell phone,' " an elder angel told them. He still had a thick Gellish accent, even in this life. "Its abilities are limitless."

"Wow! Imagine what we could have done with one of _these_ back in the war," said another angel. "So much for having our Gellish messages thwarted. We could have just texted each other."

"Haha, yeah. Do we even need to go find our old weapons anymore?"

"Yes. Yes, you do," the elder spoke up. All the angels in the vicinity turned to him, because they all knew him as a wise old man. Back ten thousand years ago, he was the oldest angel to live, at a record of over 36 billion years. And he was the best flyer, too.

Now he was 112, withering away, and wingless. Everything that he once was was now gone.

"We are all defenseless against the Messenger of Derp. Our old weapons can help us to become more powerful. More like what we once were." Vigor filled his aged eyes. "We must travel to the mountains, to the Ancient Battlefield where our weapons lay."

"Okay." It wasn't like the Ancient Battlefield was all that far from Drune. They loaded onto four-wheelers and started them up, when a voice stopped them.

"Wait!"

The angels turned to see two Angols, the small three-eyed family that Mois was from.

"Noa and I are coming with you," said the older one, Fear. "Our weapons are up there, as well."

The other angels groaned. The people from the Angol tribe all seemed so difficult to deal with—they were completely emotionless and boring. Mois was the only one among them who wasn't, but at this point they considered it not so great.

"Fine. Hop on," they instructed. And the four-wheelers all traveled into the distance.

* * *

Fuyuki woke up later that evening in a cold sweat. His abdomen stung like hell where Mois had stabbed him, and only now was the pain starting to finally get to him again. It was excruciating, and he screamed out in pain.

"Fuyuki!" Natsumi rushed to him, cradling her head in her lap. "Let me see the wound."

Fuyuki lifted up the blankets, and she slowly undid the bandages. Her eyes widened in horror. "Ohhh, my god…. Giroro! Come over here!"

Giroro quickly came and took a look. His face grew grim. "This doesn't look good."

"Isn't there anything you can do?" Fuyuki squeaked out.

"Yes. Let me clean it some more and apply some more medicine. But…." He didn't look too hopeful.

Fuyuki shut his eyes and went unconscious.

"FUYUKI!" Natsumi screamed. "FUYUKI, I'M NOT GONNA LOSE YOU!"

But Fuyuki wasn't dying. Instead, he went into the mind realm. He was not wounded in the mind realm. There, he found Kululu sitting, looking thoughtful and reflective.

"What do you think you're doing?!" he yelled at him. Fuyuki had been angrier at him before, but today, Kululu was just being stupid. "I'm _dying_! Isn't there anything you can do to help? I know you can use your demon energy to make me heal faster!"

"No." Kululu brought his knees to his chest and rested his chin on the palm of his hand. "I promised Mois she could kill me. She—"

"She's not even the real her right now!" he said. "She doesn't even have any of her memories of you! She tried to kill you out of hatred toward the person she thinks you are!"

Kululu just breathed a sigh and shook his head. "No. I'm sorry. This is how it's going to end."

"Really? So you're just going to sit there and do nothing?" He felt he sounded an awful lot like his sister now, but he didn't care. "I'm starting to think that maybe you want to die, Kululu. You've waited ten thousand years to see your wife again, and now that she doesn't have an inkling of who you are, you've given up."

Kululu frowned. "That's not what I—"

"Then what is it?" he challenged. "You're not only going to let yourself die, but me, too? Just for your own silly promise."

Kululu stood up. "You don't understand. I deserve this. I wasn't… I wasn't there for her."

"And you will be, once you're dead?" Fuyuki glared at him. "I don't see how that's solving anything, Kululu! You've waited ten thousand years, and instead of staying with her like you've been planning, you think that the only way to make her happy again is to let you die." His voice grew softer. "That's not how you should do things, Kululu. You shouldn't go out like this. She _needs_ you." He couldn't help himself anymore. He broke down in sobs, wailing, "And this isn't how I want to die…. Not like this."

Kululu didn't seem pleased, but whatever he actually felt, he hid it. "All right. Whatever. I understand. I'll heal your body."

"Thank you…" Fuyuki whispered. He knew that Kululu would come around.

When Natsumi saw her brother finally awaken again, she threw her arms around him. "Oh, thank god! You're—"

"I'm doing this for Fuyuki," said Kululu, pushing her off of him. Natsumi squirmed back into her chair, feeling embarrassed that she had hugged the Demon King.

* * *

The angels all felt like kids in a candy shop when they came upon the Ancient Battlefield the afternoon of the next day.

"Amazing! Look at all the stuff in here," said an angel, digging through the frozen ground with a shovel. "I've been missing this stuff for years! And it isn't even mine!"

"At last, my spear has returned to me." Fear thrust her arm inside a tree and yanked out her spear. Some of the angels behind her shivered. Even for a fallen angel, she was still frighteningly strong. "Noa, have you found what you were searching for?"

"Yes, Fear," Noa answered monotonously, gripping his weapon in his hands.

"Very well. Are all the rest of you done here?" asked Fear.

"Not yet." One of the angels dropped his shovel and stood up. "Where's Mois's skeleton? She probably had a few extra weapons on her when she died."

"No," Fear forbid. "You are not taking any of Mois's weapons. If anyone took my cousin's weapons, it would have to be me. And then I would give them to her."

"She only had one weapon, anyway," Noa added.

"It is true." The angel elder spoke up. "And since Mois already has her staff on her, her skeleton would be useless to us now."

"Well, we need _some_ way to fight against her," the nameless angel, probably Jared let's say, pointed out.

"Very well," said the elder with a sigh. "I will take you to where the legends of Drune have said the Messenger of Derp's skeleton lay."

He took them to the area, but there was nothing there, only a mound of shrubberies.

"It's got to be here somewhere," said Jared. He started digging around, until he hit the frozen layer of dirt that covered Mois's skeleton. The whole slab came off like pieces of asphalt. But the sight was disturbing. "Th-that's her?" he asked.

The elder nodded, although he too was in shock. Drune legends had never said anything about the skelebaby.

"That's kind of sad. Then again, I kind of always knew she wasn't just getting really fat." Jared took the cell phone out of his pocket and snapped a picture.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Fear demanded.

"If we can't find a suitable weapon against the Messenger of Derp, we'll have to make our own," he responded. He needed to prove himself to the rest of the angels so they'd stop picking on him.

Fear growled at him, but he was already leaving down the mountain path on a four-wheeler. She and Noa hopped on one and rode after him.

* * *

Mois had always been like a younger sister to Fear. As one of the youngest angels, Mois was someone Fear took it upon herself to protect. She didn't quite understand Mois's overenthusiastic love for her job, but she was also the only person who was able to make her laugh. Even in this life, Fear tried to protect her from the constant torment that the rest of the angels inflicted on her. They had a special sort of bond.

That was why, in the middle of the war when Mois started disappearing, Fear grew saddened. She tried not to let it get to her; Mois was merely growing up. She had hobbies of her own now. Fear didn't really have any hobbies besides fighting, but she tried to relate.

Mois didn't remember any of that anymore. However, the rest of the angels had their full memories from their past lives. And there was one thing they all secretly remembered together.

Mois had been really, really fat.

All the rest of the angels had been too embarrassed to point it out to her, lest they invoke her wrath, but they weren't afraid of speaking alone about it.

"She is so fat! How did this happen?"

"Probably from all the weird things she has been consuming. Have you heard the stories? She's been devouring human souls," they said. "Actual _human souls_. She just sucks them out with her staff and swallows them whole."

They all shivered. "How disgusting! Why would you eat something so sinful?"

"I heard her say the other day that she really wanted to get inside a human's head and eat their life away. What's that even supposed to mean?"

"I don't understand why anyone would eat stuff instead of just _sleeping_ all day."

"I know, right!"

Well, she was sleeping a lot, too. In the middle of war council meetings. She'd just thunk her head down and start snoring, right then and there. She was acting pretty weird, in general. She wouldn't leave the war council table till everyone else had left, and even then, she insisted on covering herself with her wings.

"That girl is growing up to be fat and lazy," her mom, Tia, decided. "This is _not_ how she should be acting in the middle of a war."

"Yes…." Her father agreed, stroking his beard. "At this rate she'll never learn how to become a leader of the angels like I am."

Fear just wanted to smack all of the angels with the blunt end of her spear. They were all morons! It was so obvious Mois was pregnant. How, she didn't know. So one day she confronted Mois in the hallway of the war council meeting room after everyone else had left.

"Eek!" Mois jumped, startled, and covered her face with her hands. She hadn't expected to see Fear there.

"Mois, I must ask you something," said Fear.

"Oh… all right. Go ahead." Mois smiled innocently.

"Do you… have a boyfriend?"

Mois gasped at such a scandalous question. "Me? Pregnant? Nope, not me."

Fear just smacked her palm to her forehead. All the other angels were morons, sure, but that was nothing compared to Mois.

"You should be more careful, Mois. It's horribly obvious," she warned.

Mois's face turned pink, and she tried to pull down her shirt to cover what skin from her swollen belly she'd been showing. That was the problem with Angol clothes, though—they really weren't that accommodating. Small tears went down her cheeks in humiliation. She wrapped her wings around herself as if this would conceal her terrible secret.

"Perhaps there is a way around this," Fear finally spoke after letting her cousin bawl for a minute. "You should start wearing robes instead. They are much more concealing."

Mois instantly perked up, and the tears evaporated. "That's a great idea, Fear! Thank you so much!" She hushed her tone. "But… you won't tell anyone, will you?"

"Of course not," Fear swore. "However, at least grant me this small bit of knowledge. Who did this?"

"I can't tell you," Mois whispered.

* * *

From that, Fear could only assume the worst.

Mois was so, so very young. Fear had noticed the painfully inefficient means Mois had been taking beforehand to try to keep her little secret. She had seen the way Mois had cried in humiliation when Fear confronted her. That was proof enough of how immature she was. She knew that her little cousin was starting to grow up by going off into the world and doing her own things, but having a _baby_ so young? That was just out of the question. This was not good for Mois.

That wasn't the worst of it, though. Fear was a curious angel by nature. She began to look at each male angel with suspicion. _Could it be him? Perhaps him?_ she asked herself for each of them. But everyone was so… old. So much older than Mois could ever hope to be. And the younger ones among them already had wives of their own. The youngest male angels that she knew of were all just small kids—they wouldn't be going through puberty for another five millennia, at least.

 _It couldn't have been Noa, could it?_ Fear wondered. No, even Noa was much too old for her.

But the horrifying truth was most likely that the one who impregnated Mois _was_ someone much older. There were no other angels her age. That also explained why Mois said she couldn't tell her who it was. Whoever it was had probably forced her into it.

"Whoever put you through this, Mois, I promise we'll destroy," she whispered as she watched her cousin from afar. Mois was slaughtering yet another human and harvesting their soul to swallow, which Fear agreed was pretty weird, since only demons needed to eat human souls.

"I wonder which angel it could have been," Fear said to herself.

There were many different types of idiocy in the world, but Fear had yet to learn this.

* * *

The groups of angels finally returned to Drune the next morning. Fear knew that the skelebaby she'd seen would haunt her dreams now. As she stewed in melancholy, Jared took this opportunity to show the skelebaby picture he took with the cell phone to the two angels who would be perfect for taking Mois down a peg.

Her parents.

Tia's eyes widened. Her husband drew in his breath.

"How sad…. But who was it?"

"Um… this was Mois," Jared said.

This time, the stone-cold Tia Excalibur-faced. Her husband fainted on the ground.

When he came to, he summoned the angel guards. "Go find Mois immediately and bring her to us!"

"Yes, sir," said the angel guards.

Mois was sitting in a tree that overhung a pond outside of town and skipping downheartedly. She could have been trying to get closer to Keroro in the past two days, but she was just so angry and sad. She had just picked up another skipping-stone when four armored Angils sprung out of nowhere, chained her up, and dragged her off.

"Noooo! I almost had a record!" she sobbed. But this didn't make them release her. She kicked, screamed, and bit, but they just kept on dragging her. She didn't want to go back to town. They couldn't make her!

But it was too late. They plopped her before her parents and Tia thrust the phone in Mois's face. "Explain this!"

"Ah, what a pretty background!" Mois noted. The phone had reset to the menu.

Tia frowned and opened up the camera gallery, then showed Mois the picture. "I meant this."

Mois paled. "Wh-What is that…?"

"Some groups of angels went back to the Ancient Battlefield to retrieve their weapons," her father explained, "and they stumbled upon this, the skeleton that Drune legends told our elders belonged to the _Messenger of Death_."

Mois swallowed, but looked her parents bravely in the eyes, all six of them. There was nothing they could do to her now. She had taken care of the problem and killed the Demon King.

But… that was the problem. She thought she'd finally been freed of this sin, but now it had to come right back to her.

Mois grabbed the cell phone and thrust it at the wall of a building, smashing it to pieces.

"Mois… why did you do that?" her father asked.

Demons and humans were starting to peer through the barred windows of the houses they were trapped in, interested on what was going on outside. Mois began to squirm under all the pressure.

"Mois—"

"NO! If you say anything more to me, I'm going to destroy this whole town! Just like I did with Lichte!" She started summoning a black orb of destruction in her hands.

However, Mois could not correctly focus in her state of panic, and so the destruction that her black orb caused was diluted. Instead of all the buildings collapsing on themselves and the land cracking with fissures, a few holes in the buildings were created and a couple trees fell down maybe.

"…GODDAMNIT, MOIS!" the angels shouted.

"We're free!" the humans and demons yelled as they started pouring out of the buildings.

"Oh, no you're not!"

They were all promptly chained back up. "Aww…."

Everyone was glaring at Mois. "Why'd _she_ have to be the last one left with any powers?" they muttered amongst themselves.

"Always gotta be a screw-up…."

Mois felt humiliated. She wanted to crumple into a ball on the ground and wail in sadness.

Instead, she spotted the perfect distraction. Keroro was chained up nearby, right next to Tamama. She threw her arms around him. "Mr. Demon, thank goodness you're here…" she breathed. Only Keroro could take away her sin!

Keroro had no idea what was going on, nor why the buildings all suddenly had holes in them. But he couldn't really do anything about the situation since he was chained up.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, WOMAN?!" Tamama demanded, his hair practically on fire from all his rage.

A shadow was cast over them as Mois's parents approached her. "Mois… we're not angry at you," said her mother. "We just want to know who it was, and why you never told us."

Mois shook her head frantically. "No! It was nobody! It wasn't me!"

"Of course it was you, Mois. You were the size of a watermelon. And for the longest time we all just thought you were really, really fat."

"Tia, we can't expect her to remember," Mois's dad said. "If she doesn't remember anything from ten thousand years ago, then this is all futile. We'll just have to find out ourselves."

Mois was terrified. How were they going to do that? What would they do when they did find out? She was so ashamed. She hated the Demon King even more now. She wished he could be reincarnated too, just so she could stab him in the gut again.

"Why—Why are you doing this?" She started sobbing, stuffing her face into Keroro's (well, Saburo's) shirt to hide her tears. "Maybe someone planted it there! To frame me! To humiliate me! To—"

"She was so young," her father said.

"Yes," Tia agreed. "This is quite disturbing. We'll have to find out at once."

"Nooooo!" Mois wailed. She clutched Keroro's shirt even tighter now. "Mr. Demon Prince, can't you do something? Can't you dissuade them with a True Love Beam or something like in all those comics?"

Keroro sweatdropped.

"Don't do it, Mr. Keroro!" Tamama begged. "Don't give in to her tear-filled requests! She's a skillful manipulator, yes she is!"

But Keroro did feel kind of sorry for her, whatever was going on. "Mr. and Mrs. Messenger of Derp's parents, maybe you shouldn't yell at your daughter so much…."

All of a sudden, Tia and her husband looked at each other. They seemed to be sharing the same "oh-geez" thought.

"A demon?" Tia whispered. "It couldn't have been a demon. That's the most…"

"…foolish, sinful, immoral, unholy, wretched, revolting, unbelievable, irresponsible, hypocritical, reprehensible thing an angel could do," her husband finished.

"Exactly."

Mois paled. It wasn't what they thought! The Demon King coerced her into it! That's what she wanted to tell them. But she was too ashamed to say it.

But then she realized… they weren't talking about the Demon King. They were talking about Keroro.

"We'll have to execute him at once," her father decided. "Since she won't do it, we'll just have to do it the traditional way."

Keroro shrieked. "WHA—? I'm gonna die? What did I even do?"

"I think you know full well, you scandalous demon," Tia said bitterly. "Getting a young girl like Mois pregnant…. You should be ashamed of yourself!"

Tamama gasped. "MR. KERORO! WHY?"

"What. I don't remember this," Keroro croaked.

"No! Not my prince! You can't kill him!" Mois pleaded. "You don't even have any proof!"

"We'll come up with some soon. Elder, search Drune's museum at once for proof of this," her father instructed.

All throughout the day, tension hung in the air. Keroro could feel Mois's hands shivering as she clung to him and cried. Tamama roared occasionally. Aside from that, there was silence.

All the angels desperately wanted to know who'd done it.

* * *

"FUYUKI!"

Momoka tore out of her chains at once the second she heard from some people next to her, who were in Natsumi and Giroro's house, that Fuyuki had been wounded. She made a mad-dash into the house Fuyuki was at before any angels could even turn to see her.

Fuyuki was sitting up a bed with blankets and pillows strewn all over the place. Momoka sighed in relief. He was looking so much better than those people sitting next to her had described him.

"Fuyuki, what happened?" she asked, gripping his hands.

"It's all right, Momoka," he assured her. "I'm getting better. I've been healing a whole lot faster, thanks to Kululu."

"But someone…. Someone stabbed you," she told him.

"Yeah. It was…." He gulped. "I don't know. I couldn't see. They were shrouded in darkness."

" _Kid, why are you lying for me?_ " Kululu asked. " _Not that I'm complaining…. Ku ku ku. I mean, Momoka would tear Mois to shreds if she learned. Well, maybe. Mois's pretty powerful. But still. Why ya doing this?_ "

"It's the least I can do for you healing me," Fuyuki told him in his head. Funny thing was, this was true. It WAS the least thing he could do. Kululu really didn't deserve much at this point. "I think they've already found who it was, Momoka."

"They… have?" she asked.

Fuyuki nodded. "The culprit will be dealt with soon. You know how the angels are—they want to kill me their own way."

"Oh, Fuyuki!" Momoka flung her arms around him. "I won't let you be executed." Even though he wouldn't be.

"Thanks, Momoka," Fuyuki told her. He winced a little from her hugging him, since his wound still hurt.

"Oh. Sorry." Momoka took her arms off of him and stared sorrowfully at Fuyuki's wound. Tenderly, she reached her hand out and stroked her fingers over the area where his skin disappeared underneath the bandages.

At Momoka's gentle touch, Fuyuki's skin lit up with a tingle of excitement. He'd never felt anything like this before and it—

"Hey, hey, HEY! Hands off!" Kululu swatted her hands off Fuyuki's stomach. "You two ain't alone here, ya know!"

Momoka just growled deeply like a cat who was capable of growling. "I swear, when you are out of Fuyuki's body, I will create a national holiday dedicated solely to the day that we no longer had to deal with you."

"Ku ku. _Rude_." Kululu tried to put Fuyuki's hands behind his head and act all pretentious, but he grimaced again due to the pain of the wound. He slowly breathed out, really trying to push his regenerative abilities as a demon on the human plane to its limit.

Just then, Natsumi and Giroro came out from the hallway, looking totally confused. "Um… how did Momoka get in here, and why is there an enormous hole in the wall?"

"Just the Messenger of Derp throwing a tantrum," Momoka dismissed.

"What? What's going on out there?" Kululu demanded.

"Oh. Well… I'm not sure. I wasn't really paying attention when she was crying; I was just so worried for Fuyuki and—"

"Mois was crying?"

"Mois? Who's—Oh, yeah. You're right, that is her name."

Kululu forced himself to his feet. "I… have to get out there." Fuyuki's words came back to him. _She needs you_. The only thought in Kululu's head was, _I can't leave her alone anymore. I guess it only took getting stabbed in the gut for me to realize that._

"Fuyuki, no!" Momoka pleaded. "I mean, Kululu! No! You're going to hurt Fuyuki!"

"Sorry, Fuyuki," Kululu apologized privately. "I'll make it up later."

" _Kululu, be careful!_ " Fuyuki begged him. " _What if you go out there and she tries to stab you again?_ "

"I…. I won't let her," he said. "I won't let her stab me again."

Fuyuki felt relieved.

"Not until she's got her memories back. Ku ku ku. Then she can stab me again."

" _Kululuuuuu!_ " he protested.

Kululu had already made it to the edge of the wall-hole. He rested his arm against the torn wall and paused a moment to catch his breath. Natsumi and Giroro walked up beside him.

"You're goin' back to bed, mister," Natsumi ordered him.

"Uh-uh. You ain't gonna tell me what to do. I'm the Demon King!" He could barely keep his eyelids up.

"Yeah, well, not with that attitude!" Natsumi put her hands on her hips. "I can just drag you, you know!"

Kululu moved his hand open and closed to mimic her, but Natsumi quickly clamped her hand over his.

She and Giroro could both tell that Fuyuki's body was still too weak to be standing up in very long. "Come on, you're going back to bed."

"No! No, you can't make me!" He tried to fight them off, but it was a pathetic attempt. They managed to drag him back to bed, where he collapsed and actually fell asleep for once.

* * *

Mois felt like she'd been pierced in the heart when she saw the elder angel return to everyone, holding a small box in his hand.

"After much research, I have uncovered this box which holds the last artifacts that were found on the Messenger of Derp, along with her staff, when her coffin was opened ten thousand years ago," the elder spoke.

There was silence as everyone in the vicinity absorbed this. Then an angel spoke up, "Hey, why didn't any of _us_ get coffins?"

"Yeah!"

"What makes Mois so special?"

"That's not fair."

"I—I don't know!" said the elder. "I have no idea why she was in a coffin! It makes no sense to me, either. Moving on." He opened the box to reveal the only artifacts inside to Mois. "These two rings are proof enough of the affair that went on between you and that demon, Keroro."

Mois peered into the box. "You could say, playing dress-up?" she tried.

The elder shook his head. "This ring is most certainly a wedding ring." He held one of the rings up. It was flat and silver, with a few engravings on it, and was rusting from age. "This one, however, has been identified to most certainly be a demon artifact." He held up the other ring, Mois's engagement ring. It was thin, except for a stone in its center, which was framed by small metal carvings. It was still in perfect condition.

"This can only mean one thing," said the elder. He pointed to Keroro. "You weren't just having an affair with this demon. You eloped with him."

"But…" Keroro gulped. "…that's not my ring. I've never even seen it before."

The same question circled around in everyone's heads. If it wasn't Keroro's ring, then whose was it? It was probably time for another investigation.

However, a single gasp escaped from the crowd of people chained up on the ground. "That's Shupepe's ring," a voice cried, seeing the ring but not hearing the first part of the conversation.

The angels turned toward her and scratched their heads. "Shupepe…?"

"Shupepe, the Demon King who came before the current one, Kululu," the elder clarified.

"How the hell did you have the previous Demon King's ring on you, Mois?" one of the angels laughed. "He died _long_ before the war started."

"Wait a second… no, that's not Shupepe's ring," the girl from the crowd, Rinono, realized. "It's Kululu's ring now."

Mois swallowed. She didn't want to think about what that meant.

"What do you mean?" her father asked for her.

"It's a family heirloom…. It's passed from Demon King to Demon King," Rinono explained. "That's why I haven't seen it in years!" She looked at Mois. "But you…. Why did _YOU_ have my younger brother's ring on you?!"

Everyone was speechless. Mois didn't know what to say. The gears started turning in Rinono's head as it suddenly dawned on her.

"Holy cow. That other ring you're holding isn't a wedding ring, is it?"

The elder nodded.

Rinono's eyes widened. "Oh, no."

Everyone else fell silent—except for Tamama, who laughed. But everyone else slowly turned their heads toward Mois.

She stood up abruptly. "N-no! That can't be!" she insisted. "It couldn't have been the Demon King's ring! M-maybe I stole it off of him when I was in prison. Y-yeah. It's a pretty ring. I would have done that."

But all of a sudden, Kululu's words came back to her, taunting her as they rung in her head. _"But Mois, it's ME! It's Kululu! The Demon King! Your husband! How could you forget?!"_

Mois let out a scream and fell to the ground, sobbing.

One of the angels commented quietly, "Well, you really can't blame her."

The others, however—her father, her mother, the elder, everyone else, even the demons and young humans who were chained up before them—they just started at her in shock and speechlessness. Even Fear looked stunned.

"The most foolish, sinful, immoral, unholy, wretched, revolting, unbelievable, irresponsible, hypocritical, reprehensible thing an angel could do," her mother finally whispered. "Multiplied by approximately 78 thousand. Mois, never in our billions of years of life did we ever expect that you would disappoint us so greatly."

Mois continued sobbing on the ground.

"Take away her staff, dear," Tia requested.

"NO!" Mois screamed. Her father plucked it right out of her hands.

He shook his head disapprovingly at her. "I expect in exactly 24 hours that you will produce a reasonable explanation for all of this, as well as a reasonable explanation for why you decided to destroy your family and your species on the final day of battle," he told her gravely.

"No… I don't remember," Mois sobbed. "I don't remember."

"It was a war crime, Mois. The most atrocious kind. Committed by the Messenger of Death herself." Her father frowned. "And all war crimes cannot go unpunished, even if you're our daughter. We will have to lock you away until you have produced an explanation for us, and afterward you must judge your own fate."

"You could say, h-hammering the nails on your own coffin?" Mois managed to blubber out between sobs. "Th-This can't be…. I don't remember…. He manipulated me into destroying the angels! He played mind games till I got confused! He coerced me into sleeping with him!" She kept changing her story. "I—I killed him. I already repented. Please, don't take me away, Daddy."

The angel guards came toward her and began to drag her off.

"NO! MOM! DADDY! STOP! PLEASE!" she screamed.

They only watched sadly as their daughter was dragged off to her own dungeon.

Everyone else was still speechless from the horror they'd just witnessed.

"So the entire Ancient War was all a lie…" Keroro finally spoke. He sounded so depressed and shocked. "Our entire life… our entire culture… it's just one big joke."

None of them could swallow the sickening truth… except for one.

"Yup," Tamama confirmed. "I knew it aaaaall along." He was a bit disappointed that he couldn't blackmail Kululu anymore, but the guy would die soon, anyway, from his abdominal wound. Everything really did turn out okay in the end.

Shouts broke out amongst the crowd.

"Goddamnit, the one thing we thought he actually did right…. That war victory was probably a lie, too, wasn't it?"

"I can't believe this!"

"It's all fake? The Victory Festival, too?"

"I hate the Demon King!"

"He was never a king to us. His father was so much better."

"Let's kill him!"

"Yeah!"

They were all still chained up, however.

"Wait… didn't that Messenger of Derp say she already killed him?"

"Aw, darnit!"

 _Wait… Kululu's dead?_ Rinono, still chained up in the crowd, processed this. _No… that can't be. He fell in love with that wicked angel, the Messenger of Derp, and then died for it._ A tear fell down the cheek of her host body, Rei. _This is all my fault. I'm the one who cursed him. I'm the one who caused this all to happen. But I didn't want it to happen. I didn't want him to go down such a dark path._

She wished there was something she could do, but the chains were bound too tightly around her.

All of a sudden, something swooped in behind her, and her chains shattered around her. The people sitting beside her all suddenly had their chains off, too.

"What's going on?" they whispered to each other.

"The angels aren't paying attention. Quick, let's sneak away!"

"Okay."

"The Demon King isn't dead," a voice whispered to Rinono. "He's in the house on the edge of the street, healing from a wound. Go, and help him escape, before everyone goes after him."

"Woof," a voice added helpfully.

A flicker of hope grew in Rinono. She could do something right for her brother, after all.

As quick as she could, Rinono ran all the way across the town till she got to the house at the edge of the street, the only one that still had its lights on.

"Kululu!" She dashed into the building and fell to her knees on the floor, huffing and panting from the run. "You… have… to get out of here." She looked up at the person lying on the bed, to see if he would respond to this, or ignore her like a jerk.

He was asleep.

"Um… who are you?" Giroro asked.

"Wake Kululu up!" Rinono told him. "It's important. All the demons are going to kill him when they find out he's alive! You have to get him out of here!"

Natsumi, realizing the gravity of the situation, quickly shook Kululu awake. Kululu rubbed his eyes and focused on Rinono's host body. "Huh…? What's going on?"

"Kululu, you have to get out of here as quickly as you can," she warned him. "They've found out. They've all found out about the affair."

He looked confused.

"During the war. They're totally going to kill you if you don't get out of here _as soon as possible_!"

Kululu's eyes widened. "Ohhh fuuuuuuuu—"

Natsumi clamped her hand over his mouth. "Don't you taint my brother's innocent lips."

 _I've already tainted them,_ Momoka giggled to herself, still in the room.

"Kululu, _what_ affair during the war? Explain." Giroro crossed his arms.

Kululu just shook his head. "All right, Rinono. I'll get out of here."

She nodded at him. "Good. Keep yourself safe." A bit reluctantly, she gave him a gentle hug, then ran off.

What Rinono didn't know was that Kululu wasn't going to leave town quite yet. He stood up.

"You shouldn't be standing, remember?" Natsumi asked him. "You're going to hurt Fuyuki."

Grudgingly, Kululu grabbed a cloak and told her, "Then you're just going to have to come with me."

* * *

Keroro felt like a traitor to his species. Well, not as much of a traitor as Kululu was—boy, was that a surprise!—but a traitor nevertheless.

He did feel awful sorry for Mois. The way that she was dragged off, kicking and screaming… it was freaky. Even if she killed babies and slaughtered towns, he still felt a bit bad for her.

When his chains and shackles fall off around him, it was a great relief.

"Mr. Keroro, why are we free?" Tamama asked.

The answer stood right before them. "Don't worry, Keroro! I have freed everyone here while the angels left us!"

Keroro squinted his eyes. "Who are you, again?"

"I'm Dororo!" Dororo cried. Koyuki and Zeroyasha were by his side. "The angels forgot to chain me back up when Koyuki and I escaped the house we were trapped in, so we've been saving people left and right while the angels were distracted!"

"Oh." Keroro scratched his head, feeling bad that he'd totally forgotten about Dororo and Koyuki. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen much of either of them in the last two chapters.

"Keroro! Dororo!" he heard a familiar voice shout. Giroro ran up to them with Natsumi. The two of them were lending their shoulders to support a hobbling, cloaked figure as he walked.

"You," the cloaked figure said to Keroro. "You're coming with me."

"What? Why?" Keroro asked. Dororo cried behind them, sad that he had been forgotten about so quickly.

"You're the only one who'll work," said the cloaked figure. "Now gimme your shoulder and lead me to where Mois is."

Keroro complied, but Giroro, Natsumi, and Momoka could only watch in confusion as he took Kululu away.

 _Mois… if they found out about me, they probably found out about you, too,_ Kululu knew. _I have to make sure she's all right. I can't leave her again_.

Thanks to his horn's super lucky abilities, Keroro was able to bypass all the angel guards and make it to where they were keeping Mois.

Kululu's nonexistent heart broke in two as he saw her sobbing there in her prison cell. "Break her out," he ordered Keroro.

"What? But I—"

"I'll electrocute you if you don't. Use your lucky horn abilities or something to luck her right out of there," Kululu demanded.

Keroro wasn't sure how to do this. He had never been lucky on command.

Realizing Keroro was going to be useless, Kululu pushed him to see if that would work. Keroro accidentally tripped on a rope, which triggered a lever, which triggered a door in the ceiling to be opened, which triggered a boulder from the ground up above to fall through and smash the bars of Mois's prison cell.

"Did you hear something, Fred?" one of the angels asked down the hall.

"Nah, it was probably just you snoring again."

When Mois saw that Keroro was her savior, she flung her arms around him in happiness. "My hero prince!" she cried. "Please, take me away from here."

Kululu punched him in the arm. "Tell her yes," he whispered.

"Can do," said Keroro. He supported Kululu on his shoulder and took Mois's hand with his other arm (since she insisted). He tried to lead them out, but then he got lost and accidentally led them through a back exit that looked secretive and unguarded. When they got out, they were free. Keroro took them to where the others were.

"GRR! WHAT'S SHE DOING HERE?!" Tamama demanded.

"Hi, cute little demon!" Mois waved. "My Hero Prince Charming of True Love saved me! Now I won't be killed by my own kind!" She put a finger to her cheek. "You could say, cruel irony?"

"Cool, now let's get out of here," said Kululu.

Mois frowned, slightly recognizing the voice of the cloaked figure. But… it couldn't be, could it?

Everyone else seemed heavily displeased that Mois was there, but they did nothing because Kululu was giving them a look that said _Say anything about it and I swear I will kill you all_.

Before they left, the group headed to the shed where they had seen the angels store the four-wheeled vehicles. It would be risky to use them since they were loud, but they would have to do it.

"I'll dismember the rest of these," Kululu offered.

"You will?"

"Ku. I invented them." He grabbed a wrench and started ruining the left over four-wheelers. When there were only five left, Natsumi and Giroro hopped on one, Koyuki and Dororo hopped on another, Momoka and Kululu on another one, and of course Mois latched onto Keroro and hopped on with him.

"Oh, she did _not_!" Tamama spat. But she did. So he had to ride with the dog.

They drove into the woods and quickly slipped in through the safety of the trees. After they were a safe enough distance away from the town, the group stopped for a rest break. Everyone darted away so quickly that they hadn't realized they'd left the wounded Fuyuki, who Kululu was currently in control of, with Mois.

Before he knew what was happening, she walked up to him and threw off the hood of his cloak. "I knew it! I knew it was you!" she accused, biting back tears.

Kululu inhaled, wondering what she'd do. He didn't say anything.

"How? How did you survive? I thought I killed you!"

He avoided eye contact.

"Everyone hates me now, thanks to you!" she shouted. "My own family is probably going to execute me because of some stupid _affair_ that everyone thinks we had!"

"Mois, I—"

She cut him off. "No! I just need to kill you again, and then they'll take me back. Then they'll accept me again. If I bring a body, I can fix this."

The guilt weighed on him like a crushing building. "This is all my fault…. I wasn't here when you needed me."

"Needed you? I don't need you! I never needed you!" she yelled. "Why would I even _want_ you! You've done nothing but ruin my life! You made me destroy my own kind…. You coerced me into sleeping with you—"

" _Coerced_ you?" This surprised him. Was that what she thought? Was that why she hated him so much? "Where did you get that idea?"

"Well, it couldn't have been anything else!" She turned away from him. "It couldn't…. It couldn't be you."

"Mois, look at me," he told her. "Look into my eyes and tell me I coerced you. I may be a jerk and an embarrassingly irresponsible king, but I still have at least _somewhat_ of a conscience." He narrowed Fuyuki's eyes. "And if you don't trust me, then judge me for yourself."

"All right." Mois pushed Kululu off the four-wheeler, and he fell painfully to the ground on his back. Pain shot through him like a bolt of lightning. Above him, Mois set her foot on the seat of the four-wheeler and stared down upon him with her three eyes. She gasped, stepping back. Then she frowned and fought back tears. It wasn't working, though—they were spilling everywhere.

"Why?" she asked. That was the only word she said. "Why?"

Kululu had to fight back the pain in Fuyuki's abdomen to be able to sit upright again. "Because I love you," he told her. "And ten thousand years ago, you loved me, too."

"If you were really my husband… if you really loved me…" Mois's hands were shaking. Her voice rose. "…then where were you all these years for me? Where were you when my family and the rest of the angels ridiculed me endlessly for what I did? Where were you when that half-dead _monster_ was agonizingly expelled from my womb, and I was too afraid to tell anyone about it because I was too young to know what was happening?!" She looked directly at him now as he laid on the ground. "Where were you when the shame and terror destroyed me?"

Kululu had never hated himself more than at that moment.

* * *

 **I wish I knew what Mois's dad's name was. Does he have a name? Does anyone know?**

 **-Scissors**


	25. The Next Demon King

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **Uhhh..kurumois this chapter, kerotama, and momofuyu? Lots of fun stuff that has no seriousness and I am sorry. But at least I got around to explaining how Keroro and Tamama met.**

 **(Scissors here. OHHH JEEZ. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU WRITE A COLLAB STORY. Last chapter the group was riding on five separate FOUR-WHEELERS [idk what they're actually called] which is kind of like a motorbike except it had four wheels instead of two and can only fit probably two people max. WELL RAINBOW didn't know what I was talking about so I asked her, "where did all the four-wheelers go?" and she was like "they're jeeps now." I SWEAR I JUST PULLED A MUSCLE -**

 **So yes that is why everyone is all driving in a truck together in this chapter, apparently. Magic plothole. Blame Rainbow.)**

* * *

Kululu just moped as Natsumi, apparently the only responsible one thinking about the clear facts that angels were coming back, was driving. It was easy enough to turn her drive of "kill all demons" to "kill all angels."

" _I never thought about how she'd be growing up... I always kind of assumed she'd be waiting for me with open arms. Ku, ku, ku. I never thought about how the other angels would probably be mad at her for killing them._ " Kululu was talking to the only one who really could listen to him, Fuyuki.

"I'm sorry...But I mean, I guess the ideal scenario for you would have been finding her as a baby?" Fuyuki asked. That way, Kululu would be able to tell her of her previous life and ensure she was happy growing up.

"" _EW GROSS! I am so glad actually that didn't happen. That's one of my reoccurring nightmares, actually,_ " Kululu shuddered. " _But... really, I should have been there. Should have searched harder... Should have been there for her. Maybe... Maybe she's right. Maybe I didn't love her enough and give her what she deserved._ "

Kululu continued to mope.

Fuyuki tried to comfort him.

"So... Fuyuki..." Momoka sat next to him, unaware all his attention was currently being taken by Kululu and that he was talking to him. "W-would... Would you like to talk about that kiss?" She delicately put her hand on Fuyuki's.

Fuyuki remained frozen, comforting Kululu in his head instead. Momoka waited for his response. It was like he wasn't even paying attention to her!

"Don't you guys think we should maybe talk about something different?" Koyuki asked, trying to get everyone's attention back to the true problem at hand. "Like the angels coming back and killing everyone and how they're probably going to hunt Fuyuki down because they want to murder the Demon King?"

"I think Kululu has other things he wants to deal with right now... over the importance of his life, sadly," Dororo told her. "Ah, young love... That was pretty foolish of him, but still. It's the nicest thing I can think of that Kululu's done. Even if all us demons were hurt by it."

Koyuki nodded. She agreed.

Momoka just growled in irritation as Fuyuki continued to ignore her.

* * *

Their freaking JEEP rolled to a stop as Natsumi found a good place to make camp. "It's midnight. We should be able to camp for a while if we sleep in shifts," she told them. "Do whatever you guys want, I'll take the first shift," she volunteered.

She knew from her experiences with demon-hosting that Kululu and Keroro probably required less sleep than the rest of them. Maybe they wanted to prepare for the oncoming battle?

"Who wants to watch her, by the way?" Natsumi asked, pointing to Mois. "I'm assuming she's our prisoner."

"I want to stay by Keroro!" Mois pouted.

"I'll look after her," Fuyuki volunteered for Kululu. Kululu probably wanted to attempt to make up with her again.

Natsumi nodded, hoping her brother would be able to handle it. Mois frowned, kicking at the ground in annoyance.

* * *

" _I have a plan,_ " Kululu thought, leaving Mois at camp for only a few seconds to go farther out into the forest. " _Give me the body, uninterrupted, Fuyuki,_ " he ordered.

"What do you have planned?" Fuyuki asked. He could see Kululu moving around stumps from trees and cooking up curry. He honestly still didn't know where Kululu was getting all this curry. Maybe he didn't want to know.

"I'm going to make her fall in love with me again, obviously," Kululu told him. "I just need to impress her with a really romantic date. She always did like romantic things and I'm sure it'll work... She might hate me right now and not really know much about me, but that girl loves being showered in romantic attention." Kululu was hopeful that she didn't hate him so much that this would work. "So don't interrupt us and I'll let you smooch that Nishizawa girl again."

Fuyuki blushed in his head, but he remembered something very clearly. It was the Victory Festival and all the cock-blocking Kululu had done between him and Momoka. _I... I think it might be time for some revenge. As long as I don't make it too harmful,_ he decided. "Okay," he pretended to agree.

Kululu beamed. He hoped this wouldn't be too awkward for Fuyuki.

* * *

Kululu dragged Mois out deeper into the forest, pretending he was going to look after her. She frowned as she followed, knowing she was a prisoner at the moment and was at a disadvantage without her staff.

"What do you want?" she asked, rather annoyed.

"I wanted to eat dinner with you." He sat her down on a stump in front of a stump like table. Two plates of curry were out, sitting across from each other. She wasn't sure where he had gotten romantic candle light, but it was there too, along with a rose in a vase.

She raised her eyebrows. _This whole forest is probably going to burn down from those candles, s_ he thought to herself.

"I don't want to eat with you. I want to go home," she replied clearly, looking up at him with sad eyes.

"It's really good! I promise! And you love my curry. Have you ever had it in this life?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Let me go home," she begged again.

Kululu frowned. She just... looked so sad. "Sorry, at the moment you're our prisoner. And they would just hurt you if you went back. Make you sad because of our crime."

Mois looked distressed. "I didn't want to commit the crime. It wasn't my fault." She shook her head. "I refuse to believe we were really in love."

Kululu frowned. They weren't going to make any progress if she was just so sad about the ordeal. She also seemed to be scanning the area with her eyes to see if she might be able to make a break for it.

"Fine. You don't have to believe your feelings for now." He told her. "Just... eat dinner with me. That's all I want at the moment."

"I don't want to eat the Demon King's stupid food." She crossed her arms, turning her face away.

"Why don't we make a bet about, it then? If you can't beat me in a game, you eat the curry. If you win, I'll let you go," he tried to bargain.

Mois looked intrigued. "And... you'll clear this whole mess up?" she asked. "You'll make it known that our relationship was... nothing more than your delusion?" She still looked like she was fighting back tears at the disgust of thinking of their relationship.

" _Kululu! This isn't a good bargain! You might lose!_ " Fuyuki told him.

"Deal," he told her, "Game of my choice though. We're playing Scrabble." Suddenly he produced a Scrabble board.

" _What? Why scrabble?_ " Fuyuki asked.

"Because the Gellish alphabet isn't included. And she sucks at words that actually exist in this game. Trust me, each time we played she thought she'd win, but each word contributes to an idiom that isn't even real," Kululu explained to him. "She loves this game, but loses every time. Ku, ku, ku."

"DEAL! I love Scrabble!" Mois clapped. Kululu grinned and set up the board. "You go first."

"You," she spelled out.

"Lovely." Kululu put a word down.

"Could." She tried to put another down.

"Beautiful." Kululu put something new down.

"Say." Mois put something quick and easy.

"Love." Kululu made a new word.

"Hmmmm..." Mois thought for a second, before putting a word that didn't even exist down. Kululu made her put it back.

"Eternal." Kululu made sure all his words were only of the romantic sort of connotation. Mois kept thinking. She eventually finished one idiom on the board. When completed, it read, "You could say, bitter pills are hard to swallow?"

Kululu's, however, was a long list of everything he loved about her. His hand eventually met her hand in the middle. "Did you fall from heaven?" he asked, trying a pick-up line. He was rather rusty with them. "Because you look like an angel to me."

" _You're crashing and burning, Kululu,_ " Fuyuki told him. He was getting second-hand embarrassment from watching this date.

She frowned at him very disapprovingly. "I literally did fall from heaven, Demon King. And it is your fault. Remember?" she asked.

"Ku, ku, ku. Oh yeah," he remembered, and continued hitting on her via scrabble. Eventually he finished the statement of, "All my heart is devoted to you."

Mois blushed a little bit. "The board is full... I think you win. Your points add up to more."

Kululu grinned. "You have to eat some curry with me then! Ku, ku, ku!"

"Fine." She didn't seem that enthusiastic, but she took a bite of curry nonetheless. She didn't want to admit it was really yummy, so she tried to change the subject. "There must be a reason you took me out here besides getting me to eat. What is it? Do you want to kill me and hide the body here?"

"Nah, I just wanted to talk to you..." Kululu told her, smiling and crossing his arms. He gave a small smirk. "What do you think of the earthquake that happened in this area a few years ago?" _She loves earthquakes. She won't be able to not talk about them._

"Oh, that earthquake was amazing! But nothing too special. You know?" She did get more into talking to him. Suddenly, she was launched into a discussion about tectonic plates and the fault lines of the world.

Kululu grinned as she talked to him and ate. _She's finally smiling!_ Earthquakes always did the trick. It was even part of the reason he had started using them more with his powers as Demon King. He hadn't thought they were anything special before seeing how much of a nerd she was about them.

After she was done with her plate of curry, he stood up. "You know... as the Demon King, I can make earthquakes... Would you like to see one?" he offered. Mois looked up at him hesitantly.

"I... I guess... I mean, if I'm your prisoner I might as well make the best of your abilities," she decided. She couldn't refuse someone offering to show her an earthquake. She took his hand hesitantly as he lead her away to a better location that would make greater fissures.

" _I can't believe you're doing this, Kululu. What kind of girl is your wife? It's like she's completely forgotten that she hates us just because you offered to show her an earthquake!_ " Fuyuki realized.

"Ku, ku, ku. I know. I love her so much~. She's amazing, isn't she?" Kululu bragged. Fuyuki didn't think he was getting the picture.

His horns sprouted out of Fuyuki's head again. This was happening a lot lately, and Fuyuki had just started getting used to the pain. Untwirling, his horns hooked dove into the ground and sent a surge of power into it to make it shake.

Mois watched, ecstatic and super excited as she felt the ground shaking all around her. "So cool!" she exclaimed.

Kululu smiled as she watched trees fall down and cracks appear in the ground. Monsters and animals died all around them. But the best part about it was definitely seeing her smile again. It was something he had missed for so long.

"Would you like to dance among the destruction, my dear? Don't worry, I'll make sure you don't fall into any cracks." he told her, stretching out his hand.

She looked at him curiously, not quite ready to fully accept him yet, but still rather interested. He could see a bit of the old Mois - his wife who dearly loved - him in there.

"I suppose if destruction is involved." She took his hand a bit shyly. His fingers wrapped around hers and a part of him was immensely satisfied.

" _Do you even know how to dance, Kululu?_ " Fuyuki was worried for him.

" _I'll make it up as I go along_ ," he admitted. It was supposed to be a soothing thing, after all. He put his arm around her waist and drew her closer, focusing on where the cracks in the ground were forming and letting his body become one with the earth, using his demon powers, as he danced with her to the music of the earthquake.

For a while she was calm, dancing with him, letting her body fully press against his, listening only to the nice cracking sounds of their personal dance floor and the breathing of her partner. She would look up into his eyes sometimes to see if she was doing things right.

He was so pleased with himself. _She might fall in love with me quicker than I thought! I knew I could do this!_

"You know... we might have shared a past together, but... I'm a new person now. You have to let me go," she finally told him in a hushed voice.

 _Uh-oh._ Kululu didn't like where this conversation was going. Was there still something blocking her from accepting him?

"I'm different now. I'm not the Messenger of Death. I'm the Messenger of Derp. I'm not the competent killer I once was, I'm a huge ditz. I'm really different. I'm a new person," she insisted.

Kululu pulled her a tiny bit closer. _Oh... she just wants reassurance that her other self wasn't cooler than her and she isn't a failure or something._ He knew being the Messenger of Derp had probably taken her self-confidence down a few pegs.

"You're wrong," he told her. "Your personality is completely the same. It's exactly intact. And for the record, you were always kind of ditzy, although it's always been pretty cute. Anyway, of course you'd have to be the same person, or else you wouldn't have fallen for this whole earthquake thing and totally _swooned_ over it. I mean, you're clinging to me pretty tightly, so that's proof enough you liked it. Ku, ku, ku. You're the same Mois I fell in love with. Don't worry."

Mois blushed. She was pretty close to her enemy the Demon King. But that hadn't been purposeful! They had just been dancing! She pulled away a little bit, taking her arms off of him, but not taking any steps back.

Kululu smiled at her pink face. Slowly, so if she didn't want to she could pull away, he leaned down so he could be at more eye level with her and closer to her lips.

They could both feel their heart rate accelerate, as Kululu placed a hand on her back to gently beckon her forward. Almost instinctively, she began to close her eyes and pucker her lips as the two of their faces got closer.

She could feel his hot breath on her face, as if only the width of a piece of paper were separating the two of them.

Fuyuki immediately took control. Now was his time to strike! Quickly he moved his lips a bit higher and stuck out his tongue to place a long, disgusting, and slobbery kiss over her nose.

"GOTCHA! REVENGE GRANTED!"Fuyuki praised himself.

Kululu watched in utter horror inside his head as Mois stepped back and wiped off the slobber from her nose. She wiped it on her skirt, rather disgusted. "Yuck!"

" _I... I can't believe you... I was so close_..." Kululu cried in his head. Fuyuki just felt proud and fist-bumped.

Suddenly, Natsumi, Momoka and Keroro ran into the clearing that Fuyuki and Mois were in. Natsumi looked annoyed and like she had recently gotten dressed in a hurry.

Fuyuki didn't want to think about what connotations that might imply. Especially with his sister in a relationship at the moment. "Kululu!" she yelled. "Were you the one to make that earthquake?"

Kululu twiddled his thumbs awkwardly. "Yeah, so?"

Natsumi slapped him up-side the head. "Sorry, Fuyuki," she apologized. "But how can you be so stupid? That could give away our location to the angels! Why would you do something so loud and obvious as that?"

Kululu didn't give her an answer.

Angol Mois threw herself at Keroro in a hug, completely forgetting about Kululu as soon as she saw him. "Keroro is my one true love, Demon King. I'd like to make that clear," she frowned at him.

Kululu looked so disappointed.

"Um... can I ask what's going on here?" Momoka asked. The atmosphere, the table with candlelight and roses... It almost looked like a date!

"Oh. Well, it was a date..." Fuyuki replied honestly.

Momoka gasped. She looked at Fuyuki with a hurt expression. "How could you? I thought maybe that kiss meant something to you!" She balled her fists in betrayal. "I can't believe you just fell for this new pretty face..." She pointed at Mois. "And you! How dare you steal Fuyuki from me!" she hissed, then marched off super angrily.

"We better leave before the angels find us. I don't know why you were on a date with Mois, but you'll want to sort out that Momoka problem soon," Natsumi told Fuyuki.

Fuyuki just looked confused. Why was Momoka so mad? She _did_ know that it was Kululu on the date with Mois, right?

Well, things would be better soon... Right?

* * *

Fuyuki had never been ignored by Momoka before. But during their next few days of travel, she would just stick her nose in the air and "hmph!" at him. Yup, she was definitely mad.

But he wasn't sure about what. He didn't know what he had done wrong. She looked hurt.

Just as Kululu had done to others, Fuyuki took out his distress on Kululu. Every time Kululu tried to impress Mois in the next few days or get close to her, Fuyuki would take the body and humiliate himself or do something stupid in front of her like trip.

Both Kululu and Fuyuki were miserable.

"Don't worry, Momoka. I know how you feel." Giroro seemed to be the one who consoled her. "Being in a love triangle... It sucks, man."

"You weren't even in a love triangle!" Natsumi yelled to him from the front seat of the JEEP as they were traveling.

Giroro was silent. "I know how you feel," he reaffirmed.

Momoka nodded. She hoped Fuyuki would decide who he liked more soon. Because he still seemed interested in the angel.

* * *

All Mois could see was Keroro. She would always throw herself at him and try to get closer and closer to him.

Keroro for, the most part, did mind. But he also got caught up in the atmosphere of someone listening to everything he had to say. It was like the opposite of Tamama, who constantly talked about himself to try to find out what they had in common.

"No! Mr. Keroro's mine!" Tamama latched onto Keroro's arm as Mois tried to feed him some lunch.

"Say, 'ahh', my demon prince!" she told him. Keroro obediently opened his mouth as they all rode together.

Tamama knocked the food out of Mois's hand. "He's mine! You don't deserve him! Me and Mr. Keroro are in love!"

"Um... and when did this happen?" Keroro asked, twiddling his thumbs.

"Let me tell you woman, of how much he's mine! Then you'll see that you're not wanted here! I'm going to tell you about our first meeting and why I deserve him and you don't," Tamama hissed.

Everyone listened, because they were all genuinely curious as to why the heck Tamama was pursuing a dummy like Keroro.

"It was after the Ancient War... After that rotten Kululu had stolen my life away..."

* * *

Tamama's life had been miserable since getting demoted to the lower class of demon society. He tried to tell others about what Kululu had done to him, killing his family and stealing his glory and all that, but nobody believed him. They all said he was a blabbermouth, and because of that, they hated him.

His frustrations made it harder for him to keep control of a host, and he hadn't won any Demon Fights from the contract that he himself had made.

He was pretty miserable, especially with the news of that his latest host was going to be a particularly strong human and it was very unlikely that he'd get much energy at _all_ from being there.

It was like all the other demons wanted him to die.

"Well, I guess I'll have to face this new host someday..." Tamama decided, hopping into the Hosting Stream. It would probably be another failure. But he had to do it.

* * *

This new host of his seemed to hate demons more than any of Tamama's previous hosts. His name was Ken, and he and Tamama didn't get along at all.

"Why do you hate us so much, Ken?" Tamama asked one day

"My boyfriend's possessed by a demon, too. He doesn't deserve that," Ken told tell him. Tamama was intrigued by the idea of his male host having a boyfriend.

He had never heard of that being a thing. But at the same time, it sounded almost right, like it was something that Tamama had missed throughout his entire life. That boys could date boys. It felt so much better to think about than dating girls. And it was even better to learn that Ken's boyfriend was older than him by a year, and being possessed by a demon, as well.

Tamama wondered what the demon was like... Sometimes he liked to pretend when Ken and his boyfriend were together that he was the one being showered with words of attention. He could tell when it was the demon or human because there would be a drastic personality change whenever the demon was in control.

The demon of Ken's boyfriend seemed easy-going and friendly. He wasn't the best actor when it came to pretending to be a human, but he was nice.

Tamama wished dearly that those demon's fake words of love were for him instead of Ken. That it was he and the other demon who were dating, instead of Ken and his boyfriend.

* * *

One day, Ken finally confided some of his feelings in Tamama. His fears. "I'm worried for my boyfriend," he told Tamama.

"Huh, why?" Tamama asked.

"Apparently my boyfriend's demon is a guy named Keroro..." Ken said. "And although this demon is pretty incompetent, I've heard he's continued being in control of the hosts after two years. I don't know why. I've heard it's out of sheer luck."

 _Ah... he must have won all the Demon Fight,._ Tamama realized. But he didn't focus on that. He had learned the name of the demon inside Ken's boyfriend! Keroro.

It was a lovely name.

* * *

Just as Ken had predicted, after the two years were up for his boyfriend, Keroro seemed to be the one in control.

He could tell because Keroro was a terrible actor. He would go around town saying he wasn't a demon, although he obviously was one. The people loved him for it because they knew he was a demon and didn't have to be suspicious of him, questioning what he was, but Ken was heartbroken. He didn't know what had happened to his boyfriend.

He ran out into the forest with Tamama, taking full control of the body.

"What are you doing, Ken?" Tamama asked.

Ken cried. "I'm going to find a monster and that monster is going to eat me. I don't want to live in this world if my boyfriend isn't here," he sobbed, being a classic over dramatic teenager.

Tamama was horrified. He tried to struggle for control to make sure that they wouldn't die, but he couldn't. _But... if we get eaten, I'll die too! I don't want to die like this!_

A large, ox-like monster approached them. Its jaw opened. Tamama closed his eyes. After all this time, death was coming to him. And it wasn't Kululu's fault.

"HEY! STOP THAT!" Keroro ran toward the monster with a pitchfork in his hand as a weapon. He managed to slip on the ground, and the pitchfork left his hands and shot up into the air. When it came back down, it went straight through the monster's brains, killing it.

"Huh?" Ken and Tamama both looked together at Keroro, who had come out to the forest to look for them. Keroro wrapped his arms around them.

"Don't worry. You're safe now," he soothingly told them. "I promise that I'll always protect you, and listen to your concerns." He kissed them on the forehead. Tamama knew Keroro was probably just trying to act like Ken's boyfriend to keep him unsuspicous, and didn't even know that Tamama was active sometimes or that Tamama had a name, but he was so touched by Keroro's words. It was the first time anyone had been kind to him since the war.

"I love you," Keroro told him. Tamama knew they was false words. Pretend. Perhaps Keroro had promised his host that he would take care of Ken, since Ken's boyfriend was dead, but Tamama loved those words.

"I love you, too," Tamama felt himself saying, taking control.

Keroro smiled. "I'll always protect you," he said again. And Tamama, for once in a long time, felt safe in Keroro's arms.

 _I am never going to let you go,_ Tamama decided. It was the first time someone had made him feel that way.

* * *

Tamama's determination to stick by Keroro let him win the Demon Fight against Ken. However, he didn't tell Keroro about this. He continued pretending to be Ken, knowing Keroro didn't know of the demon inside Ken at all.

Tamama always giggled a lot at Keroro's bad acting when he tried to pretend like he was definitely not a demon.

They did all sorts of boyfriend stuff to blend in.

* * *

"We did all sorts of boyfriend things together, like going to sweet shops, having dates, growing old together, and dying. AND BANGING PASSIONATELY TO HEAVY ROCK MUSIC. YEAH! We made a lot of love, so he's mine, woman! Mine! I put my mark on him!" Tamama screamed.

"What...? Why would Keroro do that? I didn't... honestly know he was like that?" Fuyuki said as he listened in. Keroro hadn't seemed that interested in Tamama, so why had they done the do?

"A lot of demons have to continue their teenage romances, or even start families with humans on the human plane, in order to blend in with human society and pretend to be human. They can't let anything be too suspicious," Giroro explained, listening in to the story. "Keroro probably had to do such a thing to pretend to be whoever he had possessed. A lot of demons do it, so it's not uncommon."

"Wait... did you do something like that, too?" Natsumi stopped the car and looked at Giroro with a dangerous glare.

"No. After I took hosts, I usually left town to fight things. I worked as a mercenary. I didn't like the whole 'hiding your identity' rule. I wanted to fight," Giroro told her. Secretly, he was a little happy that she seemed jealous. Natsumi soothed and started driving again.

"I... Even though I worked as an assassin, I still tried to blend in. But everybody forgot me, anyway so they weren't able to tell I was a demon," said Dororo admitted. "So I had no need of doing such things."

"Ku ku ku. Everybody already knew who I was, and I wasn't going to do something so demeaning," Kululu explained.

Tamama looked a little sad that he wasn't anything special and that Keroro had mostly just been trying to fit in.

Keroro was covering his very red face. "That was you? I had no idea!"

"Yep. And after that, I made sure to get whoever your hosts were dating. It was great! But... it was all pretend in the end, so I'm glad to finally be with you in my own form." Tamama snuggled up to him. Keroro just continued blushing, looking like he was going to swear a blue streak somethin' fierce.

"I have to leave to think about some things." Keroro rolled out of the freaking jeep. Natsumi stopped it awkwardly.

"We don't have time for this." She rubbed her head.

As Keroro walked, he blushed again. "I can't believe the guy I used to date was Tamama..." He felt totally awkward because over time, he had totally had a crush on his host's boyfriend, Ken.

" _HAHAHAHA!_ " Saburo just laughed heavily in his head.

Mois turned to Tamama as the car came to a halt. "Were you saying something? I'm sorry, like, I guess I spaced out for the last half an hour." She giggled to herself.

Tamama was enraged. "I JUST WENT INTO A DRAMATIC FLASHBACK AND YOU WEREN'T EVEN LISTENING?" Nothing was going to stop him from destroying her now. He leaped forward and latched his fingers onto her neck to strangle that floozy who thought she could walk into his life.

Mois made a little gasping sound as she was being strangled. Kululu immediately got up and grabbed Tamama by the tail.

"Don't you dare touch her," he hissed, pulling Tamama's hands away from her throat. Mois gulped a breath of air and started coughing, trying to desperately get air again.

"Why shouldn't he? She's an evil angel and our _prisoner_ ," Natsumi pointed out. She didn't have much sympathy for Mois. "Why are you being so nice to her, anyway?"

"It's because she's his _wife_ ," Tamama blabbed. "Did you miss the part where he totally lied about the war and instead had an affair and got her pregnant?"

Giroro, Momoka, and Natsumi gasped loudly, having not been there for that reveal.

"Wh-what...?" Natsumi asked, confused. "You two are married?" She looked between them, confused.

Mois rubbed her throat and moaned. "I don't want to be," she defend.

"KULULU! HOW DARE YOU!?" Giroro was filled with rage and tried to leap at Kululu to choke him. Kululu swatted him him away.

"So... that's what everyone learned. Ku." He coughed awkwardly. "Awkward that they found out all the details of that, even the more... personal ones," he said, referring to the baby.

Natsumi's eyes just kept flitting between them. She finally spoke. "Actually... now that you mention it, I can kind of see it now. I mean, you're both really, _really_ evil." She paused after getting hit by a sudden realization. "Oh! That must be why you kissed me, too! Because I had her staff and you thought I was her!" She finally felt at peace, knowing why that had happened.

"So... you weren't ever going after Natsumi?" Giroro seemed to relax a little bit more at this news.

Mois looked a bit hurt. "You kissed her? Well, so much for when you said you liked _me_!"

"He kissed ME, too! Stole my first kiss in my demon form," Tamama told her to make her angrier. She _did_ look angry at Kululu. He had no defense for Tamama.

"I'm going to go find Keroro. Like... maybe birds of a feather flock together?" Maybe he understood trying to run away from a past romance. She sure hoped so. Luckily he was off moping about that very fact.

So she left to go find him.

Kululu looked sadly at her as she left. And everybody looked at him angrily.

"I can't believe Kululu is her husband!" Momoka growled. She didn't want them getting closer in Fuyuki's body. "I WILL BE THE ONE TO HARVEST THAT MAN-MEAT! NOT HER!" She proclaimed with determination. "She will not have Fuyuki's body! It will be mine!" She knew now that Kululu was the one flirting with Mois, not Fuyuki. But still! It was Fuyuki's body, and she couldn't help but feel jealous.

Fuyuki started blushing at her statement, not knowing what to say.

" _Ku, ku, ku. Oh yeah. I still have to wait like a few months before this body is fully mine. That means no sex for me until then. I mean... that is a level of awkwardness that I'm not going to do. Just have to keep it in my pants, I suppose_ ," Kululu thought. He hadn't realized that he had thought it clearly enough for Fuyuki to hear.

And Fuyuki screamed.

He didn't want to hear what Kululu had planned for his body. He didn't want those images.

"Please... Please stop thinking dirty thoughts, Kululu..." he begged.

Kululu didn't reply. He just took the body so he could go see Mois.

* * *

Kululu went out to the forest where Mois was talking to Keroro about how she wanted to devote herself to true love, and her romance with him. Keroro wasn't really listening.

"Tag." Kululu high-fived him. "You're out, I'm in. I'll talk to her," he offered.

"Thanks," Keroro told him. He was quite willing to run off and get some _actual_ peace and quiet. He did so.

"Now... how about I take a look at that bruise on your neck?" Kululu offered. "Since Tamama tried to choke you."

Mois reluctantly accepted his help.

* * *

The angels had recaptured most of the demons and humans who had tried to escape. Most, except for the demon Garuru, and his wife Pururu.

They had run free, and had happily gabbed away to free humans and demons about the truths about the Demon King and his ludicrous affair. Because Garuru hated that guy.

News traveled quickly on the internet, and soon everyone knew and was outraged. They all wanted to kill Kululu as much as Garuru did now.

Pururu, however, wanted to bring him to justice. She wanted to find where he was and demand a reason for his irresponsible actions.

So she left a letter at hers and Garuru's bedside to say she had left to search for Kululu. She would bring him back to her husband soon.

And so she left to the forest.

It took days to track him down, but she assumed he was in the vicinity and a few days' travel from where a recent earthquake had been. She found him eventually in the forest talking to his wife, Mois. She hid behind a tree and listened in to their conversation without their knowledge.

* * *

"Why are you so against the idea that we were married?" Kululu asked while treating Mois's wound. He gently placed some medicinal leaves to her neck that would reduce swelling.

"Because I'm my own person! I can choose my fate. I want to reset whatever my past life made me do!" she insisted.

"But... I'm your husband..." he tried to plead with her.

"Not in this life." She wagged her finger at him. "I will not be the Demon King's bride."

Kululu thought for a moment. "Is that why you're against it? Because I'm the Demon King? Would it have worked out if I was an ordinary demon, like Keroro?" His voice sounded so sad, so lonely.

"Being with a demon is sinful," she responded. "And you are the most sinful creature out of the demons that I have ever met. You could say, it's what's inside that counts?"

Kululu still seemed to think it was because he was the Demon King, though. "You know, I never wanted to be Demon King," he confided in her, getting into sad, angsty backstory territory. "The position was forced upon me when I was young."

Mois didn't look interested in his story.

" _Kululu! Maybe you should rethink telling her? I mean is this really safe and a good idea?_ " Fuyuki asked, worried for his friend. He knew what Kululu was going to tell her, but he felt maybe he should think things through a bit more.

"I've done it before. She already knows. Or at least, she DID," Kululu told him. "Who do you think was the person who helped me through the memories so they weren't as painful when I talked to you about them?"

At that statement, Fuyuki let him continue.

"I became the Demon King when I murdered my brother. I had believed he was forcing our sister into bed... As his power transferred to me, I learned that the kingship for demonking is passed through blood... Not a bloodline, but literal blood. Killing the Demon King will make you the demon king. And I was forced to become the next one," he told her.

Mois looked up at him. _I wonder if I killed him, would I be the next king?_ "It must have felt great being liked by so many people. Much better than being the Messenger of Derp." Her voice was dripping with resentment.

"Ku ku ku, yeah, that's what I thought at first, too." He looked downward. "Before I became the Demon King, I was constantly ridiculed for being the weakest of demons... My brother and father exploited me and made me pretend to be unintelligent so they could pass my inventions off as their own. So I thought that when I was the Demon King, the ridiculing would stop. That I would be liked. But I was still hated. So... I understand at least a little bit about the ridiculing you're going through. It hurts, but you just have to remember you're hella better than them," he tried to tell her, to try to find something to sympathize with her through.

"Did I hate you for being the demon king?" Mois asked a bit curiously. She wanted to catch him in his own trap. She knew she would have hated him.

"Originally, when you learned I was, yes... But you accepted me, anyway. You accepted me because you loved me truthfully and didn't care if I was even the most evil of souls. You just wanted to be with me. It... It was the first time I felt at peace as the Demon King when you told me you loved me anyway. And I didn't feel lonely anymore," he said. "And I'm thankful for it. I... I just wish I was there for you sooner in this life, so I could have given you the same acceptance. I suppose I can only change what I'm doing now though."

Mois was a little touched at his story, especially the fact that her words had meant so much to him. She certainly related to being ridiculed, and not being liked even if you did have powers. She touched his cheek gently, to reassure him that she understood, and looked into his eyes.

Kululu smiled.

She frowned and took her hand off. "Wait! No way can that be true! I'm not falling for your mind games again! I already fell for your lies once on the battlefield. Maybe this whole thing is just to get to me." She covered her hand, like it had been hideously burned.

She couldn't believe she had almost fallen for another of his mind games!

* * *

Pururu, meanwhile, covered her mouth in shock. The next Demon King would be decided by who killed Kululu?

She had to let everyone know. He was probably their worst Demon King in history, and there was no harm in getting rid of him if the next Demon King would be someone better.

She ran off and started posting all over social media about the story she'd heard from Kululu. The media, the internet, all of it was in an uproar.

They all wanted to be king. But who was going to be the one who killed Kululu first?

They all wanted it to be them. It all could turn into one big Battle Royale just to kill this one guy.

Even the angels heard the news and fully endorsed the killing of Kululu. They knew they couldn't let a new demon take his place, though... It had to be one of them to be in control.

The humans, likewise, felt that it would be best for them to kill the Demon King, and maybe they'd be able to save their species and become a demon, or a king.

It was a three-way war to kill Kululu.

And it was all because of social media.

* * *

 **Please review!**


	26. Only One

**Haha... Fredrick is a funny name. And also a name that I happen to recycle a lot, just like the names Bob, Fred, George, and Jared.**

 **-Scissors**

* * *

It was as if the world had changed overnight.

Just two weeks ago, fanatic humans had still been slaughtering teens and adults left and right to get rid of the demons that resided in their bodies.

Then everything turned around when Pururu and Garuru finally returned to society. They spread the word of the angels' revival and the Demon King's affair, and quickly, the Humans Against Demons movement vanished and everyone went into a panic about the new threat, as well as into fury at the betrayal of the Demon King.

But when they heard the latest bit of news, the fact that the next Demon King would arise through killing the current one, this changed people. Everyone wanted to be the next Demon King, but only one person would come out in the end. Only one person would be worthy.

But who?

This was the main predicament back at Drune. It was Mois's father who finally made a judgment call on the matter.

"The one who can kill the Demon King can only be myself," he decided. "Ten thousand years ago I was a leader for the angels, and now to keep peace amongst demonkind and the angels I shall be the leader of both. Also I don't want him as a son-in-law."

The angels nodded, agreeing with much sadness that this was a fitting outcome.

"However, I cannot go out into the world and seek him on my own," said Mois's father. "I must stay here in Drune. So I shall elect one of you to go in my place." He pointed his finger at an Angal, Fredrick. Ten thousand years ago, Fredrick had razor-sharp wings that could cut through any material, like all Angals. Now he had no wings, but he was a decent chef. "Take some ancient angel weapons and go seek the Demon King. I need him alive, or else I shall have your head."

Fredrick gulped.

"Also…" said Mois's father, "I suspect that it was the Demon King who was at fault for Mois's escape. It is likely that where he is, Mois will be canoodling with him. Bring them both to me, alive, and preferably detached from one another."

Fredrick nodded and bowed to his former leader. "As you wish, sir."

He gathered some ancient angel artifacts and waited for a couple of angels to repair one of the four-wheelers that had been mysteriously dismantled. Then, he hopped on the FOUR-WHEELER NOT A JEEP and departed into the woods.

However, what Mois's father did not know was that Fredrick had no intention of bringing back the Demon King alive. He was going to do away with him himself. And what could Mois's father do about it? Nothing. He certainly wouldn't be the one with cool demon powers.

As for Mois… once he got rid of the Demon King, he would handle that troublesome Angol.

* * *

Kululu was completely and utterly unaware of the turmoil that was currently manifesting in the rest of the world. At the moment, he was proudly assuring himself of one fact and one fact only: Mois had almost trusted him for a second back there, when she touched his cheek and gazed at him. He almost had her.

However, everyone else was not nearly as pleased, especially with him. He was still being ignored by everyone else in the group because they were angry at the fact that he lied to society for ten thousand years. This wasn't particularly the sort of thing that you could just _let go_. Kululu, however, gave a total of zero shits. He had more important things on his mind to worry about.

"Oh, my demon prince…" Mois flung her arms around Keroro and snuggled her cheek against Saburo's chest. Subconsciously, sparks flew from Kululu's horns as he watched them venomously. "I had a dream about you last night. You were wearing a top hat and a cape! And you gave me a flower as I cried atop a tower. Then we ran off into the sunset on a unicorn."

" _Keroro! Why are you letting her touch us?_ " Saburo asked.

Keroro swallowed. "It's better… than the alternative." He had to fight hard to keep his eyes from slipping toward Tamama.

That story yesterday…. That was something he hadn't ever intended on learning. And Tamama, regrettably, was quite insistent on reminding Keroro every available second.

"HEY, GETCHA HANDS OFF HIM, WOMAN!" Tamama pushed Mois off and immediately returned to his usual happy demeanor. "So, Mr. Keroro, back to what I was saying about all our past relationships that you learned about just yesterday…" He snaked his hand up Keroro's shoulder, and a shiver of fear went through Keroro.

"Um! There is a thing that I have got to go do! Right now!" Keroro plucked his hand off and promptly ran off. The FREAKING JEEP was still moving, so he had to somersault out the back to be able to get out.

Natsumi groaned and stopped driving. "Not _again_ …."

Tamama frowned and slumped his back against the inside wall of the JEEP. "I don't understand…" he whimpered. "Why does he keep avoiding me? Does he just not like me anymore?"

"I don't think that's it, Tamama." Momoka sat down next to him. "I think he's just shocked at the news he's learned and isn't ready to accept it quite yet. I mean… that's a big private portion of his life right there, exposed in front of everyone."

Kululu glared at her. "Wow, ku ku ku. Really sucks for poor Keroro, don't it?"

Momoka sighed. Even though she kept reminding herself that it was Kululu doing the talking, it was still hard to see the sweet boy she had a crush on making sassy remarks at her. "He just needs some time alone, that's all."

"But… I don't want him to be spending time alone!" Tamama exclaimed. "I thought he'd be happy to learn that it was me all along…. I thought he'd be happy to see me again. But he isn't! He's just disgusted at me! He's disgusted because I'm a abhorrent lower-class demon with no respect, thanks to _someone_ here!" He shot a poisonous glare in Kululu's direction.

"Hey now." Kululu's tone turned tender and he moved closer to Tamama, facing him at his level. "Keroro isn't put off by you because of any one of those things. Ku ku ku, after all, we both know _you're_ not to blame for those." He smirked and playfully bopped Tamama on the nose. Tamama was confused at why he was acting so nice. His question was soon answered. "He's put off by you because you're a loud-mouthed, thirsty, mortal demon with uncontrollable mood swings, a nasty temper, and no consideration whatsoever for his personal space or privacy."

Tamama's pupils shrunk. He snapped open his jaw and clamped his teeth down on Kululu's finger—which was actually Fuyuki's.

"OUCH!" Fuyuki yelped out in pain.

"I hate you!" Tamama stuck his tongue out at him and dashed out of the JEEP.

Crying, Tamama ran all the way to Keroro. Keroro tried to run faster when he saw Tamama approaching, but it was too late.

"I have to know," said Tamama. "I have to know. Did you really do it all to blend in? Or did you actually like me?"

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…." Keroro drew out his answer, not knowing what to say. Was it finally okay to admit that he had a crush on his host's boyfriend now that he knew it was Tamama? Was it appropriate to confront how he felt in the past?

Grudgingly, he realized he would have to tell the truth. He had the smallest suspicion that maybe Tamama liked him a bit, too. Keroro opened his mouth and prepared to confess.

"Nope. It was all to blend in." He covered his mouth. _No! That totally wasn't what I meant to say!_

Tamama ran back to the JEEP in tears.

"Saburo! Did you make me say that?" Keroro accused.

Saburo laughed at his pain. " _Nope. I actually had nothing to do with this. It's all on you again, it looks like. Good luck on smoothing THAT one over_." He paused. " _But please, when you do, no banging in my body!_ "

Keroro's face turned a bright red. "I promise."

He went back to the jeep, but instead of talking to Tamama, he just sulked in a corner. He couldn't do it. He just couldn't talk to him.

* * *

"You're back!" Mois took a seat by Keroro in the JEEP and leaned her head against his shoulder lovingly. "You really should be more careful leaving the jeep, my demon prince. You might hurt yourself on accident."

"Keroro could never do that," Saburo spoke up, scooching away from Mois. "He's the luckiest demon alive."

"Hey, speaking of the jeep," Koyuki brought up, "can I ask a… particularly strange question?"

Everyone listened politely.

"Do you feel like we had different vehicles last week? Like, what's with that? Where did this jeep even come from?" She got a dramatic look in her eyes. "What is life?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Giroro spoke. "We've always had this jeep."

Koyuki just stuffed her face in her arms, annoyed that no one remembered.

Dororo pat her back comfortingly. "I believe you."

"Thanks, Dororo." She gave him a hug.

As they chatted, Tamama played numbly on his phone. Curiously, he wondered if he could get wi-fi from inside the mysterious jeep. He decided to try, because this was a phantom jeep. Perhaps he could search different ways to hide the body of an angel.

The good news was, he connected. The bad news was the amount of news articles that were spread everyone online about a certain rumor that had popped up. Certain headings that read "Angels Are Back, and They Want Our Souls!" and "World's Shortest Revolution!" and "Cultural Travesty: The Demon King's Affair is Exposed!" and "A Battle Royale Race: Who Will Become The Next Demon King?" caught his eyes.

The last one Tamama hadn't heard about, so he clicked on the link and read the article. It was only a rumor, yes, because most articles nowadays talked about social media, but what he read filled his eyes with hope and glee.

 _I can…. I can become the next Demon King if I kill Kululu?_ he realized. _Wowee! Why didn't I hear about this sooner? Just wait till I become Demon King! Then Mr. Keroro will like me again, AND I'll have my revenge on Kululu! I'll be killing two birds with one stone!_

He looked around the JEEP for ideas, trying to plot in what way to end the Demon King's reign.

* * *

Mois couldn't help it. After Kululu's story yesterday, she couldn't help feeling a little touched.

Oh, yes, she knew that he was only playing mind games with her. And he was damn good at those mind games of his, getting her to see him in a different light for more than a couple of minutes….

Her attention was still heavily fixated on Keroro, but today, she was trying a different approach. She watched Kululu, to see what he would do.

He was quite visibly vexed whenever she showed any bit of affection toward Keroro, and he tried to hide it. It was rather amusing. But whenever she was free from Keroro, Kululu always took that opportunity to try to strike up a conversation with her.

"You know, this world would be nothing without the Demon King's technology," he told her with a smile.

"I didn't go through puberty twice to be told that," she retorted. This was her game. Act disinterested, and predict Kululu's next move. It was like Brindin, except without the game pieces. It was kind of like a test. How far was the Demon King willing to take his little mind game?

Kululu clicked his tongue, impressed by her response. "Very well, then." He liked challenges. He was determined to win her heart.

At the next rest break, Tamama had other ideas. After everyone had left the jeep, he fumbled around with things on the top of the vehicle and placed a large boulder on a rack beneath the vehicle's ceiling. He fixed a rod under the boulder and casually waited for everyone to return to the jeep.

Once everyone was in, he waited a couple minutes and then pulled out the rod from underneath the boulder, which was directly under where Kululu was sitting. However, the jeep lurched over a rock in the path, and the boulder started rolling toward Mois instead. Kululu quickly took notice and, before it could fall, pretended to lose his balance and fall onto her, knocking her out of the way.

"OW!" Giroro, who the boulder had hit instead (somehow the boulder had abruptly changed its course!), rubbed his head and threw the boulder out the window.

 _Oops. Didn't mean to make it fall on him. Ah, well, at least he's got a head of bricks anyway so it shouldn't have done TOO much damage,_ thought Tamama.

Mois was completely taken by surprise that Kululu had fallen onto her, although after seeing the boulder, she suspected she knew why.

"Hey," said Kululu, casually propping up his arm so he could rest his jaw on his palm.

Mois couldn't help but giggle a bit. Realizing what she was doing, however, she quickly stopped and pushing him off of her, then avoided his gaze.

Kululu rubbed his head, but he didn't mind.

" _Kululu, stop flirting!_ " Fuyuki begged him.

"Sorry, kid, I can't. Gotta get the family back together," he joked.

Timidly, Mois stole another glance at him, and another small snort of laughter escaped her.

 _That's not what I wanted to happen!_ Tamama thought. _There should be no happiness in this jeep! Not while I'm suffering!_

At her reaction, Kululu grinned, and a spark of delight surged through him. Actually, it was more of a _literal_ spark of delight. A small inconvenience as the most powerful demon alive.

 _Now's my chance!_ thought Tamama. He popped open a canteen of water and splashed its contents onto Kululu as he sparked. Bolts of electricity shot through the jeep, and the whole thing short-circuited, powering down.

"Oh, shoot!" said Natsumi. "Not the four-wheel—I mean jeep!" She turned around with a nasty scowl. "Who's responsible for this?"

Everyone shrugged. Tamama had been so fast, no one saw what he did.

Natsumi sighed. "Well, we aren't going anywhere with our inconsistent vehicle like this."

"Yaaay! Another rest break!" Keroro cheered.

"I'll fix it, I guess," Kululu volunteered. "Not like anyone else would know how to, anyway." He slowly grinned as another thought crossed his mind. "Actually, scratch that—this is a pretty old invention. I might as well update it while I'm at it."

" _Um… why?_ " Fuyuki asked him. " _That's going to take too long. We don't have enough time!_ "

"You'll see why," was all Kululu told him. "You'll see why."

* * *

When Kululu broke down the engine and started repurposing every part into a new creation for the vehicle, Fuyuki soon did find out what he meant. A few minutes into the process, Mois stopped obsessing herself with Keroro and came by to watch, all three of her eyes fixed on what he was doing.

She couldn't help it. It just looked so fascinating. "What are you going to use that piece for?" she asked, pointing to one of the parts.

Kululu smirked. "Glad that you asked. Ku ku. That's for the hard drive."

"Hard drive!" She made a face. "Why would you need a hard drive for a jeep?"

"Ku ku ku! Everything's done by computers nowadays. Gotta get with the times, Mois!"

Mois drew her knees to her chest and continued watching him, staring curiously as he recombobulated the jeep doohickeys.

Fuyuki knew a little too well how much he liked to gloat, but at this point Kululu was just trying to show off, with all the weird features he was adding to the jeep's engine. He hadn't even yet _touched_ the main problem with the vehicle, which was how it short-circuited.

"Here, hand me that piece over there," Kululu requested. Mois happily handed him something, and their hands made contact. Kululu's fingers closed around hers and he stroked her hand, earning a blush from her.

"You and your mind games…" she whispered under her breath, shutting her eyes.

"Oh? What was that?" Kululu grinned.

Mois dropped the machine part and covered her face with her hands. "You could say, fight your instincts!" she told herself.

As Kululu started working on the engine again, Mois timidly peeked her three eyes through the cracks of her fingers. She finally took her hands off and started watching him again, lying on her belly as she did so. Kululu welcomed her gaze, innocent and pure as it was.

Fuyuki knew what was happening. Soon, he would have his chance to cock-block them again.

 _He's distracted_ , Tamama realized as he hid behind the jeep. _I can try and kill him again soon… I just have to figure out what to do._ His eyes searched the area for something to knock Kululu out with. They focused on small log that had come off of a tree.

At the same time, another figure hid behind a tree. _After much searching, I've found you, Demon King,_ thought the angel, Fredrick, as he slowly unwound a thin cord. _Prepare to meet your demise!_

 _You could say, a test of endurance?_ thought Mois. _Let's see how he reacts when I stare him down like THIS…._

She brought her face closer to his, but Kululu thought she was going to kiss him or something. He brought his face closer, as well.

And then everything happened at once.

 _Now!_ thought Fuyuki. He ducked his head.

 _Now!_ thought Tamama. He threw the log.

 _Now!_ thought Fredrick. He flung the cord.

As Fuyuki ducked his head, Mois lost her balance and tumbled onto Kululu. The log, which had been meant to knock Kululu out, landed perfectly on her head. An invisible cord flew by and swiftly decapitated the log.

And everyone thought, _AWWW DRAT!_

Mois tried to get off of Kululu, but all of a sudden, she was chained to him. _How did this happen?_ she wondered.

Out from the shadows, the former Angal Fredrick revealed himself, slowly clapping for them. "Somehow I knew I would find you two together," he spoke. "And how convenient you're both alone. Once I'm through with you and become the next leader of the demons, I can—"

"HE'S MINE, ANGEL PRETTYBOY!" Tamama leapt out from behind the jeep and launched himself at Fredrick's throat. "DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! I DESERVE IT MORE THAN YOU DO!"

" _What are they talking about?_ " Fuyuki asked.

Kululu just shook his head. "I have no idea." But it was an amusing brawl.

"It's… you!" Mois gasped when she said Fredrick. She wished she could remember his name. "Please! Take me back home!"

"What?" Kululu looked up at her. "After everything that's happened, you still want to go back to Drune? Back to the ridiculing? Back to your imminent execution for the war crimes?"

"It was… your war crime!" she said as she struggled against the chains.

"No, Mois," Kululu told her softly. "It was _our_ war crime."

As Tamama and Fredrick duked it out over who would get to have Kululu's head, this attracted a lot of attention, and everyone else ended their rest break to come and see what was going on.

Natsumi put her hands to her mouth and gasped. "An angel…? They've found our location?"

"Sis!" Fuyuki took control. "Please! Somebody! Help me out of these chains." He jerked his head toward Mois, who was still on top of him. "This is reeeeaaaally uncomfortable."

" _Ku ku ku. I disagree_."

"Kululu, now is not the time!"

Momoka came forward to save the day. "I'll free you, Fuyuki!" she said heroically. One glance at the position Mois and Fuyuki were in together was all it took for Momoka's rage to take over. She tore apart their chains. With her teeth.

"Thanks, Momoka!" He brushed himself off. "You're super strong. I can always count on you."

 _Fuyuki said he can always count on me!_ Momoka held her cheeks, blushing. _Wait… super strong? He doesn't think I'm too masculine, does he?_ Her face heated up in self-consciousness.

"Now… as for the next order of business…." Kululu took over and walked right between Tamama and Fredrick's fight. Fuyuki's two new favorite friends, Mr. Right Horn and Mr. Left Horn, came out of his head and gripped Fredrick by the collar of his shirt. "What do you think you're doing, trying to take us back?"

"What do BOTH of you think you're doing, fighting over who gets to kill my brother?" Natsumi tapped her foot impatiently, awaiting an explanation.

"It's a normal thing," Dororo whispered to her. "Everyone wants to. Trust me."

She frowned. "That's my brother in there, though!"

Fredrick just gave a laugh. "I don't think you _want_ me to talk, Demon King."

Kululu jerked him. "Yes, I do. And I also want you to explain what you meant by becoming 'the next leader of the demons.' " As he narrowed Fuyuki's eyes, Fredrick could see a glint of malice in them.

"You don't want me to explain," Fredrick said with a laugh.

With Kululu's hands, he conjured up several electrical sparks and both hands came closer to Fredrick's head. "How much pressure do you think it will take for your head to pop?" he wondered.

"A-all right, all right! I'll explain!" he complied. "We heard a rumor that whoever kills you can become the next Demon King."

"Wh-what?" everyone gasped, except for Mois and Tamama, because they already knew.

 _Oops,_ thought Kululu. _Yeah, I guess I shouldn't have made him say that._ Processing what Fredrick said, on the other hand, caused anger to surge through him. _Rinono. Rinono was the only other person who knew._ But why would she betray him after letting him escape? Maybe she knew how he had taken Mois with him, and now this was her revenge.

"Who's 'we'?" Kululu demanded, jerking him again.

"I—I don't know!" said Fredrick. "I assume everyone! This news spreads like wildfire, you know. It's everywhere on the internet."

Kululu growled and dropped Fredrick to the ground.

"Hah. I knew you were too weak to kill me," Fredrick said. "You're afraid that I—"

"Oh Messenger of Death,~" said Kululu in a singsong voice. Mois perked up. "Would you do the honors, my dear?"

"M-me?" She pointed at herself.

"Well, yes. You don't want him to go back to Drune and give away our location, do you?" Kululu narrowed Fuyuki's eyes. "Back to Drune, where they'd drag you back and reduce you back to the Messenger of Derp?"

Mois did look a bit disappointed.

"Ku ku ku. That's what I thought." He cocked an eyebrow. "Now why don't you show this guy what the Messenger of Death is all about, babe."

Once again, Mois couldn't help it. She grinned and stepped forward to Fredrick, generating a destructive black orb between her hands.

"Wait, Mois, you can't," said Fredrick. "I—I'm an angel just like you. I respect you more than any of the other angels do." He started panicking. "No! I'll do whatever you want! Please, just don't let her—"

Everyone turned away as the explosion sounded. When they looked back, there was no Fredrick and no black orb. It was as if he had been eaten up.

" _Th-that was terrifying_ ," said Fuyuki.

"Ku ku ku. You should have seen her when she was craving human souls," Kululu told him. He smiled. "Still the same Mois she always was."

Mois wiped a bit of sweat off her brow. "How refreshing…. Still a lot easier to do with my staff, though," she said. "Even so… um…." She fumbled a bit. "Thanks… Demon King."

"Not a problem," he said with a smile. "You can just call me Kululu, you know."

"No." Her gratefulness suddenly turned into a frown.

Everyone else held their jaws open, agape.

"Sh-she just killed him in cold blood…" said Natsumi. "One of her own kind…. And you! Demon King!" She pointed to Kululu. "People can kill you to become the next Demon King? People can do that?"

Kululu was silent. He didn't know what to answer. "That… seems to be what people think." He scratched the back of his neck. "This is going to be one hell of a problem for us if the entire world has found out…" he muttered.

"So it IS true!" Giroro looked like he was ready to kill him himself. He walked up to Kululu intimidatingly. "The entire demon kingship is passed down through murder. You, your brother, your father…. What other secrets have you been hiding, Kululu?!" he demanded.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Natsumi grabbed his shoulder. "Don't you get any ideas, Giroro. You're not laying a finger on my brother."

"Relax, Natsumi. I'm not going to hurt your brother. But…" He cracked his knuckles. "…if you were in any other body, Kululu… I'd make you pay for all your war crimes. The affair, the lies… And then the biggest war crime of all: kissing my girlfriend."

Natsumi rolled her eyes, but she did giggle a bit.

Momoka bit her lip. "But… what are you going to do now? Now that everyone knows… people are going to be coming after you, Kululu. You're going to put Fuyuki in danger."

Kululu gave this a bit of thought. "I suppose I'll just have to be constantly on my guard, then, ku ku ku."

"No." She shook her head. "We're going to need to do more than that. We need to head back home, to the Nishizawa manor. There's a safe house there." She walked up to Fuyuki and took his hand. "Stay with me, Fuyuki…. I'll protect you."

Kululu gave control over to Fuyuki so Momoka could see him blushing. "Th-thanks, Momoka…." All of a sudden, he grimaced in pain and fell to the ground, breathing heavily.

"F-Fuyuki!" Momoka yelped, dropping to the ground with him.

Fuyuki held his gut in pain. "K-Kululu… was good…. He was good at hiding it," he managed to huff out. "Th-the stress must have gotten to him."

" _It did not!_ " Kululu denied.

"Huh? What's he talking about?" Mois asked, out of the loop.

"Fuyuki, let me see." Momoka lifted up his shirt to check on his bandages. They were soaked in blood—his wound had reopened.

"Ohhh…." Mois said in a low voice. "Uh-oh."

Momoka glared daggers at her. "We know that you're the one responsible for this, Messenger of Derp."

"Um, this is between me and the Demon King," she clarified.

"We need to take Fuyuki back into the jeep," said Natsumi. "Someone else can fix the engine. I'm not going to let Kululu exert my brother any more."

"Mois…. Mois can fix the engine," Kululu spoke up.

"What?" said Mois. "No, I can't!"

"Yes, you can," he told her. He was barely able to look up at her due to the pain. "You were… watching me. You've managed to do these kinds of things before."

She bit her lip. "Fine."

Natsumi carried Fuyuki back to the jeep so she could take care of him and plan the route back to the Nishizawa manor, and Mois repaired the engine.

 _That woman…_ Tamama growled. _If she manages to kill the Kululu, will SHE become the next Demon King?_

No! She couldn't be the Demon King AND the Messenger of Derp! That wasn't fair!

…Wait.

* * *

Since Natsumi had to drive the jeep, Momoka was primarily the one who took care of him the rest of the day. She tried to talk to Fuyuki and catch him up on everything that had been going on when she was back home, now that Kululu wasn't using the body to flirt excessively with Mois.

Fuyuki appreciated the attention, but it was hard to look up at her. He had grown feverish from infection and not getting proper care in that jeep. That darn, inconsistent jeep. Momoka tried to do the best she could by letting Fuyuki rest his head in her lap.

Fuyuki felt really, really bad for not having talked with her all that much since the angels first arrived. He hadn't had much time to. But if he could talk to her, he wanted to tell her how relieved she was that she didn't actually die during the revolution. He wanted to hold her and have her comfort him with her presence.

And then he wanted to tell her his latest theories relating to the paranormal!

He couldn't do any of that now, but her being there for him was enough. She was doing so much for him. _Maybe…. Maybe she likes me?_ he wondered. He wasn't sure if this was true.

Even into the night, when Natsumi stopped the car so everyone could sleep, Momoka stayed awake to take care of Fuyuki.

He could just barely make out the silhouette of her head as she placed a wet cloth on his forehead. Excruciatingly, he lifted his hand and stroked the side of her face. She leaned against his touch, putting her own hand against it. Fuyuki managed a smile. Just as quickly, however, she dropped his hand and retired behind him to the other side of the jeep.

Since he couldn't sleep, Fuyuki watched her the rest of the night as she lay before him, using Zeroyasha as a pillow. The moonlight illuminated her short blue hair as it splayed everywhere over the dog. Fuyuki amused himself momentarily with the thought of how she would look in the morning with dog hair in her bed head.

But then he paused, a thought dawning on him. He had thought that Momoka went behind him to sleep…?

And then he realized, with a touch of sadness and confusion, that Momoka hadn't been tending to him that night.

Mois had.

* * *

Fuyuki wasn't the only one who had seen this. When Momoka woke up early the next morning, she was shocked to find the Messenger of Derp replacing Fuyuki's bandages as he slept.

 _I knew it_ , thought Momoka, pressing a fist to her lips in worry. _I knew this would happen._

She ran out of the jeep dolefully, past an embarrassed Mois who dropped the roll of bandages she was holding.

 _Now I know how Tamama feels_ , she thought as she sat against a tree trunk and wept.

The tree stump started vibrating. She turned her head to see Koyuki beside her, using the trunk as a training post.

"You're… training?" she asked. "But why?"

"We're going to have to fight sooner or later," said Koyuki. "We've already been in one. So I might as well start training again." She sat against the trunk with Momoka and took a sip of water from her canteen. "Mind if I ask why you look so down?" she asked sweetly.

Momoka smiled. Koyuki was a nice girl. "It's just… Mois," she said. "You've seen how she's been acting around the Demon King. I'm… starting to worry if she likes him. If that happens, she might become attached to Fuyuki's appearance, associating the two of them as one…."

"Well, was it Fuyuki's appearance that _you_ fell for?" she asked.

"Wh-what? How did you know I—"

"We all could kind of tell." Koyuki winked and stuck out her tongue playfully.

Momoka looked down. "N-no. It wasn't his appearance."

"I don't think you should have anything to worry about, then," she assured her. "Natsumi's brother has a very distinct personality. He and the Demon King couldn't be more different from one another. And frankly, Fuyuki's looks don't mesh too well with a personality like Kululu's."

Momoka pondered this.

"You know what that means?" asked Koyuki. "It's the Demon King who Mois has chosen as her mate!"

Momoka sweatdropped. "I don't quite think people work that way—"

"Nope. Her mate." Koyuki refused to believe anything else. "They're already married," she added.

That was a good point, and Momoka had forgotten it.

* * *

By evening, the group had almost made it back to town. About a couple miles from it, however, Natsumi insisted on parking the jeep so she could gander at the view with Giroro.

Most everyone went down to the beach to splash in the waves and whatnot. Now that Fuyuki could stand up again and was feeling better, he walked out of the jeep to take a look. He recognized the area—there was a cliff side that overhung the beach that Dororo had attacked Kululu and him over a year ago. Seeing it when the sun was setting was another deal, however.

"Wow," Fuyuki breathed. "The sunset is really gorgeous from up here."

" _Laaaaaame_ ," Kululu blared. " _I hate sunsets_."

Out of the corner of his eye, Fuyuki spotted Mois sitting on the edge of the grass, looking out at the sunset and the crashing waves below them. Kululu quickly took control and sat down next to her.

"Wow. What a great sunset, huh?" he said.

" _What? But you just said two seconds ago that—_ " said Fuyuki.

"Can it, Fuyuki!" Kululu ordered in his head. "Some things take a bigger priority than my nonexistent appreciation for atmospheric distortion!"

So Fuyuki shut up. But he would get Kululu back somehow.

Mois kind of scooted away as she saw Kululu sit by her. He didn't say anything of this, and instead brought Fuyuki's knees to his chest and rested his elbows against them. "Ooh, I think I spotted a dolphin."

"What? Where?" She accidentally knocked into him so she could get a better look.

Kululu used this opportunity to snake his arm around her waist. "Sunsets were always better with you around, anyway."

Mois blushed, and reluctantly, she leaned her head against his shoulder.

 _Same old Mois as she always was_ , Kululu thought again, stroking her along her upper arm. _She's always been a sucker for sunsets._

Fuyuki didn't like how close his body was getting to Mois. Now was his time to ruin things! He took back control of his arms and poked her sides to tickle her.

"Eek!" Mois yelped.

Kululu smirked. "Ah, ticklish, are we?" Of course, he already knew.

 _ACK! No, that's not what was supposed to happen!_ Fuyuki thought.

Instead of moping because the mood was ruined, Kululu decided to turn the situation around. He went behind her and brought both arms around her waist. She lost it—she started giggling like wild.

"S-stop it, Kululu!" she begged. "I w-won't fall for your Demon King tricks!"

He didn't stop. Mois was rolling on the ground with laughter. When she started rolling way too close to the cliffside, Kululu caught her, wrapping his arms around her and rolling away from the edge. He landed on his back with her on top of him, both of them still laughing.

" _Ouch… Kululu, don't reopen the wound_ ," Fuyuki pleaded.

"I'm not gonna," he promised him.

But something much worse was happening instead. Kululu smirked as he looked at Mois, her body separated from Fuyuki's by about two inches only. Mois blushed, and Fuyuki could hear just how loud her heart was beating. Their faces were waaay too close for comfort.

Mois started giggling again, but this time at the absurdity of the situation. Kululu started laughing again, as well, until a sudden gust of ocean breeze blew her shirt upward. Then they both stopped laughing.

Mois sat up and turned away from Kululu, hugging herself in shame. Kululu sat up a bit too quickly, sending a surge of pain through Fuyuki's gut.

" _Kululu! You really have to stop that!_ " he told him.

"Mois," Kululu said. "What was that?"

"It was nothing," she insisted, covering her head.

"It wasn't nothing! There was a scar there!" he said. He reached his hand forward. "Let me see it—"

"NO!" She swatted his hand away.

"Mois, let me see it!"

"Fine, Demon King!" she yelled. "Marvel at your handiwork!"

Shuddering, she turned back to him and lifted her shirt, squeezing her eyes shut as Kululu ran Fuyuki's fingers over the scar. It was grotesque—there were lines extending downward from her navel, as if something had clawed at her. Not to mention, she had a whole lot of nasty-looking stretch marks, as well.

Fuyuki was speechless. Previously, he'd wanted to break the mood somehow, but not like this…. This was just saddening.

"Wh-what?" Kululu said. His fingers were trembling.

Mois didn't answer. She was waiting for Kululu to blurt out something like "Right, and how is that MY fault?" or "Gross, I just realized I don't like you anymore." Instead, still trembling, Kululu pulled her toward him in a hug, covering the back of her head with Fuyuki's small hand.

Mois's shoulders started shaking. She was crying.

Kululu held her tighter. "How did this happen?" he asked.

She wiped away some tears. "It's your fault," she sobbed. "S-something came out of me wh-when I was younger…. It was like some sort of half-dead angel monster."

"Oh, god." Kululu's voice was just barely above a whisper. "The baby. The baby reincarnated." He had suspected that had happened, since she stabbed him and also mentioned it earlier, but he'd still secretly hoped it wasn't true.

"That was no baby," she whimpered. "When I saw it… I can't even begin to describe what it looked like. It keeps coming up in my nightmares."

Kululu just stroked her hair. In retrospect, seeing their baby's skeleton had been nothing. Absolutely nothing, compared to this. "And that's why you stabbed me," he figured out. "Since… I was the one at fault."

"Yes! It was horrible!" Another sob escpaed her. "It was only in my for less than half a year, since my body expelled it prematurely, b-but…" She shivered. "…during those last months, I could feel it writhing inside of me…. I—I didn't know what was going on."

Kululu inhaled deeply as he listened to the story.

"And then, as it came out, its tiny hand scratched at me…. Somehow the mark shows up on the outside, I don't know how…. But it's just like the scars on my back where my wings used to be." She nuzzled her face into Fuyuki's shirt and wailed out, "I wish it would just disappear already!"

Kululu just stared forward, terrified as he held her. "Oh my god… you shouldn't have gone through that. That's horrifying."

Fuyuki just let her comfort her, because honestly, he was terrified, as well.

Mois wondered momentarily if he was acting this way toward her because this was another of his mind games, but when she looked at his face, a tear fell down his cheek.

"I—I wasn't even there for you…." Now he looked like _he_ was the one who needed comforting. "Oh, god, I had no idea things would end up like this," he admitted. "Ten thousand years ago we were so excited… I was willing to give up my life for that kid. You were willing to kill your entire race." He fought back tears. "But it—it shouldn't have reincarnated…. And I wasn't even there to help you when it did…."

"What was…" She swallowed. "What were we… going to name it?"

Kululu was silent for a moment. "We never decided," he finally said, laughing a little. "I—I kept picking out demon names, but you wanted something different. But the names you chose were always so silly."

Mois laughed a little, too. "Like what?"

As Kululu listed them off to her, Momoka approached the area and watched them from a distance. _He's… embracing her?_ She narrowed her eyes. _I know it's Kululu, but even so… those are Fuyuki's arms he's holding her with._ Subconsciously, she wrapped her hands around her own arms. _F-Fuyuki never holds me like that…._ The pangs of jealousy hit her again.

All of a sudden, a hand went over her mouth and she let out a muffled scream. Instinctively, Kululu and Mois turned toward the commotion, and a hand clamped over Mois's mouth as well. Coming at them was a large group of uniformed humans.

"It's an angel! We've found an angel, sir!"

"The Nishizawa heiress too! What shall we do with them?"

"We only need the Demon King," said a much deeper voice. "Get rid of those other two."

"Don't you dare!" Kululu and Fuyuki yelled at the same time. But someone clamped their hands down at him, as well, pointing a gun to Fuyuki's head.

Momoka tried to shout for Fuyuki, but her scream was muffled. Mois, likewise, tried to scream and kick. She couldn't summon her black orbs with her hands behind her back.

There was nothing Kululu and Fuyuki could do but watch, helpless, as Momoka and Mois were carried off in opposite directions from him and brought to the edge of the very steep, very high cliff overlooking the beach.

"Mois! Don't worry!" Kululu yelled, lurching toward Mois's direction. He was certain he could startle the person behind and to snatch Mois.

"NO! We need to save Momoka!" Fuyuki lurched the other way. He felt Kululu's power surging through his body. He knew he could do this.

At the same time, the uniformed men let go of the two girls and they began to fall off the cliff.

Kululu and Fuyuki could only save one.


	27. Mission Success

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **Here, nice, kind of short-ish chapter. Mostly relationship stuff. Friendship stuff. Not as much Mois as the others.**

 **Also, Villetta Nu: You are right. She must let the four wheelers go. The four wheelers are dead. Now and forever.**

 **(Scissors here - Villetta Nu: You're right, idk why Tamama's been going for the throat so much.**

 **Anyway about the chapter I have no idea what's going to happen because Rainbow was just like "gimme a literal cliffhanger! I'll take it from there" and i was like "lol sure okay" so I'm preparing myself for the worst.**

 **Also...**

 **WHERE THE F*CK DID THE OTHER JEEP COME FROM, RAINBOW?!**

 **SOMEBODY HAD BETTER EXPLAIN OR ELSE I'LL)**

* * *

Things seemed to slow down for Fuyuki as he watched Momoka fall from the cliff along with Mois. He knew which one he wanted to save, and his arm reached forward so he could try to get to her.

The gun pointed to Fuyuki's head went off, but Kululu's horns sprouted up, caught it, and whacked the user away. With Kululu's strength, his arm went in the opposite direction Fuyuki wanted it to go.

Fuyuki tried tugging away control, but Kululu didn't seem to agree with what Fuyuki was doing.

 _No... No... No!_ Kululu screamed in his head, panicking. Mois couldn't die again. She just couldn't! Not after he had found her after all this time.

One eye seemed to look at Mois, and the other eye, controlled by Fuyuki, watched Momoka. Momoka's expression on her face was one of disappointment, acceptance.

It truly broke Fuyuki's heart. It was as if Momoka knew Fuyuki wouldn't chose her. But there was hope on her face too, as she reached toward one of Fuyuki's outstretched hands.

There was too much distance between them. If he didn't move fast, she'd fall to her death.

However, Kululu had a different idea. He cared nothing for Momoka and he wasn't about to let Mois die again.

The expression on Mois's face was so painful. She was in distress. For her, falling was always painful now that she no longer had her wings.

"Help!" they both called. Their shrieks were high and desperate.

But no matter what Fuyuki tried to do, his body moved on its own, fueled by Kululu's supernatural powers and his desperate instinct and panic.

He slid on the ground toward the cliff, his hand outreached.

"Fuyuki!" Momoka yelled, as Fuyuki's arm grabbed Mois instead.

The last thing Fuyuki heard from Momoka was when her body fell to the bottom of the cliff.

Fuyuki's mind - his actions - it all froze to a stand-still, leaving Kululu in direct control.

Kululu was breathing heavily as he pulled Mois back up to the ground with all the strength he could muster.

Mois's breathing was shaky, scared, at having almost fallen to her death.

"Thank god you're okay. I don't know what I would do if I lost you again," Kululu told her, pulling her in a tight embrace. Mois let him hug her, feeling more secure with his body tightly pressed against hers.

"Th-thank you... for saving me," she told him. "Did... Did that human girl die?" she asked, referring to Momoka.

"Nobody could survive a fall from that high up. And the rocks at the bottom are probably sharp," Kululu told her, confirming that Momoka was, in fact, dead.

Tears welled up in Kululu's eyes from Fuyuki's grief. Kululu wiped them out nonchalantly. He didn't have time to deal with whatever grief Fuyuki was experiencing. He'd deal with his host later.

What was important was _his_ feelings, and not Fuyuki's. All that mattered to him was that Mois was now safe.

" _Momoka... How could you, Kululu? You... You just let her fall!_ " Fuyuki probably hated Kululu more at this moment than he had ever hated anyone. This might be the most mad he had ever been at Kululu.

Kululu didn't listen to him.

"Are you all right?" he asked Mois, his eyes and thoughts only for her. He caressed her neck to feel where her pulse was to see how she was faring.

Mois nodded. "I'd be better if those humans were out of the picture." She pointed to the uniformed humans who were still behind them. They were helping their comrade pick up his gun.

"All right, you two are going down," the humans hissed. Kululu stood up and led Mois away from the edge of the cliff.

He approached the humans, no fear in his eyes for their bullets. He just walked closer and closer to them.

"D-don't come any closer! What are you planning, Demon King?" The humans started shaking, not having been in a fight with the Demon King before.

Kululu brought his leg up and kicked each of them in the crotches. They buckled down, their legs shaking as they groaned in immense pain.

"Want me to kill them?" Mois offered.

"That would be lovely of you, my dear," Kululu smiled. Mois's black orbs appeared around them, ready to swallow their bodies.

* * *

As soon as they were dead, Fuyuki took control of the body and ran toward the cliff that Momoka had fallen off of. "MOMOKA!" he screamed. But he only heard the echo of his own voice. "MOMOKA!" he screamed again.

It was a far ways down. He couldn't even see the bottom. The cliff was shaped weirdly so that he couldn't see below it.

Tears rolled down his cheek as he yelled again. He yelled over and over until his voice became raw. But Momoka never answered.

" _Kid,_ " Kululu spoke in his mind. He knew Fuyuki's grief well. He had once lost someone very important to him, too. " _There's no use denying it. She's dead._ "

"How could you?!" Fuyuki asked. "What gave you the right to make me lose someone important to me but let _your_ important person live? You're always like this! Why makes your life any better than mine? Why would... Why would you just let Momoka die? She was human, Kululu! At least Mois would have reincarnated again if she died! With humans, however, we die _forever_ when we are killed!" he screamed.

" _How could I? How could YOU?! Why would you suggest Mois dying instead? Sure, she reincarnates, but why does that mean I should let her die? Plus, who knows if angels can even still do that? And it took ten thousand years for me to find her again. I'm not letting her to die just so you can smooch a human girl,_ " Kululu told him.

Mois peered over the edge of the canyon while Fuyuki and Kululu argued. "Well, at least that's one human on my hit list down. You could say, got what she deserved?"

Fuyuki gaped. _Nobody... Nobody should say that about Momoka!_ Narrowing his eyes, he moved forward to her, and punched her in the gut. It was a weak punch, but it was right where her scar was.

Mois keeled over and fell on the ground in pain, winded.

"Don't you dare disrespect the person I was in love with," Fuyuki hissed. "She didn't deserve to die. The people who deserved to die were you and Kululu."

" _FUYUKI! How dare you punch Mois?_ " Kululu immediately took control of the body and cradled Mois as she tried to remember how to breathe again. Fuyuki didn't care.

He didn't care about Kululu any longer.

"You know. You two deserve each other with all the horrible things you've done. Sis was right," Fuyuki decided. "But don't think you'll be happy. You two alive came at the price of Momoka's life. And I will do whatever I can for the rest of my life to make sure the two of you never have a moment together again."

Kululu gulped. Fuyuki's cock-blocking skills were pretty good. He had learned from the best, after all - himself.

Kululu understood honestly why Fuyuki was mad. And he felt Fuyuki's grief and sadness because they were linked. But... he couldn't have just let Mois die. If he could have saved them both, he would have, but his mind had panicked.

He just couldn't lose her again. And he was sorry for Fuyuki's loss. He really was! He understood what it felt like to lose someone so important to him. But, the choice had been obvious for him.

If Mois's life was in danger, she would always have priority over everything else. Even his own life. After all, she had done the same for him ten thousand years ago. And he had swore to himself that when he saw her again he wouldn't let anything hurt her.

It was nothing personal - Mois just came first before Fuyuki's feelings.

Fuyuki had seemed to be a pretty understanding guy, so why couldn't he accept that?

* * *

Mois seemed pretty annoyed with Kululu and Fuyuki for punching her as they walked back to the group.  
Fuyuki wasn't paying attention to anyone. He was just wailing loudly in Kululu's head as he cried over Momoka.

" _It's hard to think, Fuyuki! Can you tone it down?_ " Kululu asked. Fuyuki just sniffled.

" _No,_ " he responded and resumed crying.

Kululu felt a little bad. When Kululu had been sad, Fuyuki had usually been the one to comfort him. His host was pretty kind, but now... Now he was hurt, and Kululu couldn't offer any words of comfort. After all, he had chosen his feelings over Fuyuki's.

He wondered if Fuyuki would just cry it out. That Momoka girl was just a crush to him, after all. Nothing more. It wasn't like she was his wife.

He would get over it.

"Fuyuki!" Natsumi waved. "We need to resume traveling to the Nishizawa safe house. Come get into the jeep!" She waved him closer. Then she narrowed her eyes, peering at Fuyuki, Kululu, and Mois. "Where is Momoka, anyway? I haven't seen her."

Fuyuki started crying again, this time in front of Natsumi. "We were attacked! She... She was killed and... And I tried to save her, sis! I tried so hard... But... he wouldn't let me."

Natsumi was flabbergasted as her brother cried his eyes out. She looked at Kululu in shock. "You... You let Momoka die?"

"I had to. It was her or Mois - " Kululu defended. Natsumi slapped him.

"Nobody cares about Mois!" she yelled.

Mois awkwardly looked down. It was kind of true. The only ones who really cared about her in this group was Kululu and her demon prince, of course! After all, their love was bound by the hat he wore.

"You let my brother be traumatized for your own selfish desires? You let the Nishizawa heiress die, for what? That stupid angel?" Natsumi pointed.

"Don't call her stupid. Our love is way more deep than whatever you and your pathetic demon boyfriend share, ku ku ku," Kululu hissed. Natsumi slapped him again.

Fuyuki's cheek burned, but not as much as his heart. He didn't care anymore that his sister was slapping him.

Momoka was dead. That was what mattered. And she wasn't coming back.

"Natsumi, the jeep is ready to go!" Giroro called to her.

"Get in the jeep, both of you. I'll... We'll mourn Momoka... But I am not letting you near the angel prisoner again. Not if you keep sacrificing people for her. Put her in the second jeep!" Natsumi ordered.

Dororo hauled Mois over his shoulder and shoved her into the second jeep with Koyuki, Keroro, and himself.

Kululu watched her go mournfully. Hopefully she'd be safe, though.

But romancing her right now probably wouldn't work with Fuyuki wailing in his head. He had to calm him.

 _Maybe I was a little selfish in what I said,_ he realized. He wouldn't have done things, differently still. But he understood what Fuyuki was going through.

And that Momoka girl had been pretty nice. She and Fuyuki had been good together. It was a pity she was dead now.

* * *

While they traveled in the jeeps, news went through the jeeps quickly of Momoka's death.

"MOMOCCHI'S GONE?" Tamama screamed loudly. He started bawling his head off, too, at the loss of his best friend. "This is your fault, Kululu!"

"Yep," Kululu confirmed.

"TAMAMA IMPACT!" Tamama yelled, but being a mortal demon, he didn't do anything. So instead he attacked Kululu with martial arts.

"Tamama. Stop," Natsumi ordered. "Hurting my brother won't do any good... This was an unfortunate accident, but attacking him isn't going to solve anything."

Tamama growled and spat at Kululu like a cat that had been pet in the wrong way. He eventually stopped growling and just started crying.

"Keroro hates me, and now Momocchi's dead! You killed yet another person important to me." Tamama cried and cried.

"She was a nice person. I'm going to miss her," Saburo yelled over from the other jeep. Sure, she might have been his love rival for Fuyuki's heart, but she was still his friend.

That, and she was rich. Being rich was always an added bonus.

"She was a nice girl. I wish I had gotten to know her better," Koyuki said. Dororo nodded, agreeing with her.

"I... I'm so sorry, Fuyuki. I know you cared about her a lot." Natsumi pat Fuyuki on the shoulder, knowing that it was likely Kululu would respond to her instead.

Instead, Fuyuki looked up at her. His eyes welled with tears. "Why? Why did she have to die? She didn't deserve it," he said quietly. "I... I really liked her. She was always by my side... I loved her, Natsumi."

"Shhhhhh... I know, I know," she told him, and put her arms around her brother.

Kululu let her. Fuyuki deserved some comfort, and he knew he couldn't give any. Fuyuki wouldn't likely accept any of his comfort, either.

So letting Natsumi hug the body was necessary to make Fuyuki feel even the tiniest better. He let Fuyuki cry into her hug.

And Kululu felt an emotion that he hated with a passion, one he didn't experience a lot. Guilt.

He knew what Fuyuki was going through. He would have felt the same if Mois had fallen. It was entirely his fault, the things Fuyuki was experiencing now.

And there was nothing he could probably do to make up to Fuyuki. What could he say? That it was for the best, because Fuyuki would soon be dead anyway, because of him?

Not likely. Fuyuki probably would dislike that even more.

It was likely that their friendship was over thanks to his big mistake.

But... did that mean he should stop trying? Should he just leave Fuyuki alone in his grief?

It wouldn't do much good. Fuyuki would just fester and be angry. And he really needed someone right now.

* * *

"For the record, I'm sorry," Kululu told Fuyuki, approaching him in the mind realm. Fuyuki had just moped there for a day or two of travel, only coming out if Kululu wanted to approach Mois to make him avoid her, or hiss angrily at her for her comment about Momoka.

Kululu was making sure Fuyuki ate and stayed healthy, because he knew if Fuyuki had been left to his own devices, he probably would have started starving in his grief.

"You're not that sorry. You would have done the same if it happened again," Fuyuki told him, huddling against his knees.

Kululu let out an annoyed sigh. It was true, and there was no use denying it. "I... I know what you're going through, kid... And if there was a way to save them both, I would have. But... But I can't lose her again."

"Stop throwing yourself a pity party, Kululu. This may shock you, but the world is bigger than just you and your wife," Fuyuki growled in annoyance.

This did shock Kululu a little bit. But he didn't say it. "I... I didn't want you to have to go through this pain too, admittedly. And... I'm really sorry you lost her. She was a nice girl."

"But you're not sorry that you saved Mois instead," Fuyuki deciphered.

"I would never be sorry for something like that. Just like if Mois had died instead, and you had saved Momoka, you wouldn't be sorry for not saving Mois," Kululu told him. He tried to sit down next to Fuyuki.

Fuyuki scooted away. "Leave me alone. What more do you want from me? The girl I liked is dead, and soon, I will be too. I shouldn't have trusted you. Not even for a moment."

It hurt a little to hear Fuyuki say it, but Kululu should have suspected it. Most of his hosts hated him - well, except Kururuko, who hadn't expressed her distaste for him until her death.

It shouldn't have hurt to have a friend hate him. Heck, Fuyuki wasn't even his friend. He was his host. Nothing more should happen between them. It would only make the Demon Fight more difficult.

"Fuyuki... I... I'm sorry," Kululu just said again. He wanted Fuyuki to believe him, for the poor kid to feel better. But he knew nothing he could do could make it happen.

Nothing he could do would mend a broken heart. Not even friendship.

* * *

He tried, anyway, to make Fuyuki feel a little better. He ate foods that would taste good on Fuyuki's pallet, despite not liking them himself. He tried to give him gifts to impress him a little more.

And most of all, he made the ultimate sacrifice to try to smooth things over - he stopped spending as much time obsessing over Mois.

He would have plenty of time with her once Fuyuki was dead. But right now he needed to make things better between him and Fuyuki.

He hadn't focused on the important things, after all.

"Hey, Kululu." Giroro waved at him. "I know you're trying to cheer up your host, but don't you think maybe you should be focusing on more important things? Like perhaps the war that's going to happen, and all the people trying to get to you? How the angels have returned and are trying to kill everyone? How the new Nishizawa contract is probably null and void now that the Nishizawa heiress is dead and the line has died off?" Giroro asked.

"I'll think about those things later... ku, ku, ku," Kululu answered in a whiny voice, as he tried to awkwardly draw an anatomical skeleton of a monster Fuyuki liked.

Fuyuki didn't seem to be paying attention. It wouldn't make up for the fact that his best friend and the girl he had a crush on was dead.

 _Maybe... if I did something that would respect Momoka's death, the kid would be happier._ "How about we have a funeral, ku ku ku? For Momoka?" Kululu suggested.

"We don't have a body," Giroro reminded him.

"Someone could draw a picture of her as a memorial," Kululu pointed out.

"I'm a great artist. I'll do it," Giroro volunteered.

And for a tiny second, he felt Fuyuki interested.

* * *

The memorial had a lot more crying from Fuyuki and Tamama than Kululu had expected. But he didn't interrupt it.

Mois didn't seem to understand the negative connotations of someone dying, so they left her tied up in one of the jeeps.

Everyone else mostly cried, though. Zeroyasha offered comfort and wet doggy licks to everyone.

"Th-thanks." Fuyuki thanked Zeroyasha, petting him behind the ears. He giggled for a second as Zeroyasha licked up a few tears again.

It was so hard to stay sad with a dog around.

Kululu was happy that Fuyuki was laughing. And honestly, that was good that Fuyuki was laughing from being tickled, because it was hard for anyone, especially him, to keep a straight face at Giroro's picture of Momoka.

Fuyuki didn't understand quite how badly it was drawn. He had told Giroro that it was an honorable drawing.

Kululu was glad that nobody else laughed, causing Fuyuki to cry again. He shot them glares whenever they looked like they would bubble up in laughter at trying to pray to Momoka's picture and send her good wishes in the afterlife.

He would keep this kid from having the small happiness he gained from being broken. He would protect him.

The way Fuyuki hadn't been able to protect Momoka.

He'd protect him for the remainder of Fuyuki's small, few-month lifespan.

* * *

They were almost to the Nishizawa manor. Kululu was worried about Fuyuki becoming triggered.

Honestly, the only reason he had been somewhat okay was because of Zeroyasha's constant support. And Keroro's unfunny jokes, which Fuyuki thought were hilarious.

Kululu had backed off for a while, letting Fuyuki recover from Momoka.

"You know, Kululu," Fuyuki finally spoke to him, "I would have probably done the same if I was the Demon King and had more power. I... I would have saved Momoka instead of Mois, and had been selfish. Even if Momoka was an angel."

Kululu listened to what Fuyuki had to say.

"So it would be hypocritical of me to be mad at you. I would have done the same. Who I should really be mad at is the people who were after us and willing to hurt Momoka," Fuyuki admitted to him.

"You're not going to decide to kill all humans, are you?" Kululu asked.

"No." Fuyuki shook his head. "I... I just want you to ensure, after I die in the Demon Fight, that the Nishizawa empire becomes just that - an empire. I don't want them to fade away into history books. When this all ends and you scare away everybody from attacking you... Please, promise me that you bring the Nishizawas to greatness. Make a dynasty dedicated to them. An empire. Grant their employees tremendous benefits... Do so under Momoka's name. To honor how she died for you," Fuyuki begged.

"I... I promise." Kululu wasn't used to making promises that he intended to keep, but Fuyuki's wish was so simple: Honor Momoka eternally.

And Kululu could do that. "The contract is sealed. Do not worry, I will make sure of it."

"Thanks," Fuyuki told him. He was silent for a good few minutes, before he spoke again "I... I wish I could have talked to her one last time. Told her how I cared for her, held her in my arms..."

"You could still do that," Kululu told him quietly.

"She's dead, Kululu. Being in denial like you are isn't going to help me. Momoka wasn't an angel," Fuyuki reminded him.

"But... if the angels reincarnate, it would mean that reincarnation is a believable process in our universe. Perhaps, you and Momoka will reincarnate after death, too. Maybe on this universal plane, maybe an alternative one. But maybe, someday, you'll be able to see each other again." Kululu tried to reason with him. "After all, it hasn't been proved otherwise. You can at least hope.

"That's what I did when the most important person to me was dead. I didn't know what I would have done otherwise if that hope wasn't fueling me," he said.

Fuyuki listened, and smiled softly. "I'd like to imagine a world where I can hold Momoka again." He didn't really believe Kululu. But in Fuyuki's ideal mind-world, he and Momoka were reincarnated as aliens.

It was the middle of the night when Fuyuki woke up on the ground by their campsite for that night and quietly whispered to Kululu, "I forgive you."

* * *

She fell through the sky, heartbreak surging through her heart. Fuyuki had chosen that woman over her!

 _I'm going to die. Fuyuki let me die!_ Momoka thought to herself.

Suddenly, a rope hooked around her waist. She stopped falling, her bones cracking a bit in the process of the shock.

"Lady Momoka! We got you!" Paul, her butler, called from a small water plane that had flown up when she had started falling. He carefully pulled Momoka to safety, and navigated the plane to land on the waters below.

"P-Paul? What are you doing here?" Momoka asked.

"I've been watching you ever since the angels separated us. When the angels returned, I merely flew off in the helicopter, and watched you from afar to make sure you were safe," he said.

Momoka was shocked. "Why didn't you bail me out sooner from the problems being caused? Like the angels returning? And Fuyuki being with another girl?" she asked, appalled.

"Ah... why, I thought you wanted me to stay away. Your orders were clear about this, after all. If an opportunity presented itself where you, and solely you, could be Fuyuki's rescuer, I should not interfere. I thought this was a good opportunity for you to get closer to him and have the camping trip you missed with him last year," Paul admitted.

"Paul." Momoka's eye twitched. "Some people just threw me over a cliff and Fuyuki chose to save someone else over me. I think our lives should be a little more of a priority than my romance with Fuyuki."

"My apologies, mistress. I didn't think it was that bad. Honestly, the original plan was for you and the angel to be thrown off the cliff to make Fuyuki choose, but you'd be in on the plan and everything would be safe so neither of you could die. Maybe we'd even tell the Demon King so that Fuyuki would be the sole one choosing. However... as soon as the news about killing the Demon King came out and how you'd become the next king, my accomplices abandoned me and went forth with the plan without the safety precautions and without telling the Demon King. So the lovey-dovey plan did not work." Paul clenched his fist, a tear rolling down his cheek.

Momoka appreciated the over-the-top plan. She really did, but Fuyuki had abandoned her. "Paul. Fuyuki doesn't like me. He... He didn't save me." She looked as if she was shivering and about to cry. Paul offered her a handkerchief.

"Mistress... The truth is, not everyone is strong with their demons like you. You mostly had control over Tamama when you had him, but others, like Fuyuki... Not so much. It was very likely that no matter what Fuyuki tried, the Demon King remained in control. After all... he is the most powerful demon. From what I saw, his hand reached for you and he did try. He would have chosen you over her, if he had gotten the chance. He just didn't have the strength, something he probably sorely regrets now," Paul told her.

Momoka looked up at Paul. Was this true? She didn't know.

She heard screams from above. The men who had sent her off the cliff were probably dead now.

"Should we fly on up and show Fuyuki that you're fine and reunite with him?" Paul asked, ready to fly the plane up to him. "He can't see us when we're all the way down here. The cliff is slanted rather awkwardly."

Momoka shook her head. "No... I think... Maybe we should see how he acts when he thinks I'm gone for a bit. Maybe see if he really likes or cares for me. We can meet him at my manor. I said we'd head there next, anyway."

Paul nodded. "We'll head there and set up the house for them, then."

When they felt Fuyuki was gone from the cliff, they flew away, and Momoka hoped dearly that he had grieved and cared for her.

Honestly, she was still a little ticked.

* * *

The group finally reach the Nishizawa manor. To their surprise, the lights were on.

 _I hope it's not assassins._ Kululu rubbed the back of his head glumly. Was this going to be his life from now on? Hunted by assassins at every turn as people tried to kill him?

Honestly, he was used to hiding out during the war with Mois, but that wasn't a safe environment to raise a family in.

And he still kind of wanted to make the family they had lost together.

"Get your guns ready," Natsumi advised.

"Way ahead of you." Giroro grinned, already having four guns in his hands. Who knew how he was able to hold so many guns.

Everybody got ready to attack.

The doors flew open and Momoka greeted them in a party dress. "Welcome to my safe house!" she smiled.

Everybody gasped. But none more so than Fuyuki.

"MOMOCCHI!" Tamama yelled in joy.

"Wait... People do _not_ die if they are killed?" Mois was confused.

"Welcome back," Saburo grinned. He knew that girl was too tough to crack. Honestly, he was waiting for the moment that she'd latch onto Fuyuki's waist and drag him into her arms or something.

"How...?" Natsumi was so confused.

Fuyuki's eyes just remained open with awe. This had to be an illusion, right?

"Paul would never let me get hurt. He saved me at the last minute," Momoka confessed. "So I decided to meet you here at my manor."

Fuyuki started crying. Was she truly alive? Or was this some sort of supernatural power, making her seem alive? Some illusion? His legs weakly walked up to her. He still cried in shock. Finally, he threw his arms around her in a tight hug.

"Fuyuki?" Momoka asked.

"I missed you so much," he told her. "I... I thought you were dead. I thought I'd never be able to hold you again. To tell you how I feel. That... That I love you, Momoka... I felt horrible. I thought it was all my fault... I just wanted you back, to see you again... And you're here! You're alive!" He seemed so flabbergasted.

Momoka seemed flabbergasted, too. Had Fuyuki just told her he loved her? A faint blush covered her cheeks.

Mission success!

" _You know, Fuyuki. You have my permission to make out with her. I won't ruin it for you. I'll just stay awkwardly in the mind realm, not looking or paying attention. I don't want to. But... you deserve it, kid. Especially after thinking she was dead._ " Kululu really did regret letting her get thrown off that cliff. And he wanted to make it up to Fuyuki.

Fuyuki smiled. "Can I kiss you, Momoka? To make sure you're real? I have permission. Kululu won't ruin it."

Momoka blushed. "Um... uhhh... Yes," she squeaked out. Was this really happening? It was. Much braver than her, at the moment it seemed, Fuyuki put his lips against hers, passionately kissing her.

Momoka felt her legs weaken against Fuyuki's kiss. She gripped his waist tightly against hers, pushing herself against him. She felt him suck on her own lip, and eventually even slip his tongue into her mouth with a frenzied fever.

She just felt her face heat up in embarrassment. She had dreamed of kissing Fuyuki like this, but really, the guy had no shame in front of all these people!

She let him do whatever he wanted, though. She leaned into the kiss and returned it just as passionately.

Everybody else kind of just gave a thumbs-up. It was about time. They were proud of Fuyuki, and they eventually started wandering past the two kissing teenagers to explore the manor and give them their privacy.

After ten minutes of a very heated and passionate kiss, Fuyuki and Momoka finally disentangled their bodies, although reluctantly.

"Fuyuki... d-do you really love me?" Momoka asked.

"Well... uh... took me a while to realize it, but honestly yes. Do you feel the same about me?" he asked.

"HELL YES!" Momoka screamed, determined.

"Can I kiss you again?" he asked, not wanting a moment to be separated from Momoka.

"You can do whatever you want to me,~" Momoka told him. Fuyuki pressed her against the door so she wouldn't fall, and started kissing her again.

" _Hey! Not that passionate! I want the clothes to stay on, kid!_ " Kululu teased. Fuyuki blushed.

"Um... Kululu's bothering me," he confessed. Kululu was really a mood-breaker.

Momoka kissed him on the head. "Want to cuddle up next to a nice fireplace, then, instead of making out? I can wait until he's out of your body."

"Do... Do you think I'll survive that long?" he asked.

"I know you will. Because if you don't, I'll become the next Demon King myself, because I will KILL HIM," she growled threateningly.

" _Yeash._ "

Fuyuki smiled. He had faith in Momoka.

"SCORE FOR MOMOCCHI! I'm so glad you're back!" Tamama had been the only one who was watching them make out from the hall, taking many pictures on his phone for Momoka.

Momoka was happy enough to let him send them to her.

And Kululu, for once, let Fuyuki have an entire night to himself, allowing him full use of the body to use in happiness, at the price of a few teasing comments about Fuyuki and his girlfriend.

He was honestly glad, though, that Fuyuki hadn't had to gone through what he had went through for ten thousand years.

Fuyuki didn't deserve that.

And, for a little while at the manor, Kululu felt safe.

* * *

 **Please review!**

 **Things included in this chapter are: ...There are now two jeeps with no explanation! Were there always two? Who knows. But I'm sure runwithscissors were mad. (I assumed there were always two and they drove close together.)**

 **Review if you're on team jeep or team four wheeler. (And I trust that you all will be on team jeep, because they're just better known.)**

 **Jeeps for the win, guys!**


	28. Fear Itself

**Wow, when you start feeling that 4,000 words is short, you realize maybe it's time you take a break from writing with Rainbowkittyblossomwings.**

 **So yeah. Short chapter. Not that much happens. It's mostly set-up for what happens in the next chapter. Since RAINBOW insisted on hoarding all the PLOT-RELEVANT events.**

 **Grr.**

 **-Scissors**

* * *

It was about two days until Kululu _stopped_ feeling so safe at the manor.

It wasn't a matter of Nishizawa security or anything, but rather, Fuyuki. He had decided to stop paying attention to anything happening around him completely. Instead, he was completely immersed in his latest fascination—Momoka. And Momoka wasn't helping. After their reunion, the two of them were wholly inseparable.

It wasn't that Kululu wasn't going to let his host get what he deserved. But the problem was the assassins—they came for him everywhere in the manor, and ranged from everyday townsfolk to professional kidnappers hired by rich business owners. They found their way into Momoka's mansion, through some crude means or another, and Kululu was running into them at nearly _every corner_.

It wasn't like they would be a problem otherwise. But with his host out of the loop, Kululu had to handle everything himself. For example, one time as Fuyuki and Momoka kissed, an assassin approached them from behind and prepared to plunge a knife into Fuyuki's back. Kululu casually fried him with a bolt of electricity, but Fuyuki and Momoka hadn't even noticed. The entire rest of the day he spent swatting, electrocuting, strangling, and tripping his killers from every angle, just so Fuyuki and Momoka could kiss in bliss.

The only time he had to himself was when Fuyuki was asleep, and even then, he had to dedicate all that time to making inventions that he could use to trap and locate all his assassins in the manor. Constantly, it seemed he was on his guard for Fuyuki's sake.

Was this what his life had become? Getting rid of one assassin after another? Just barely making it into the next day so he could repeat the whole cycle?

He didn't want to be doing any of this. He wanted to hang out with Mois some more, or maybe even plan for that war he knew was coming if he was desperate. He did feel a bit bad for Fuyuki. But whenever he had these sort of thoughts, he had to remind himself: Fuyuki only had so much time left. He might as well give the kid some small shred of happiness before he did away with him.

The others in the group were much smarter. Giroro and Natsumi, for one, were actually planning the war along with Paul, since Momoka was out of commission. Everyone else was training for the battle that they knew would soon be coming. Even Zeroyasha. Even the _dog_.

But Fuyuki and Momoka? Nope, they were just smooching it up, while Kululu batted away all his killers.

Finally, at some point during late afternoon that day, Paul had to pull away Momoka to discuss war-related things with her, as well as the aftermath of the previous revolution.

Kululu caused Fuyuki to let out a tremendous sigh of relief. He slumped against a sofa in one of Momoka's many sunrooms in ecstasy. "Ku ku ku… I thought you two would _never_ stop."

" _Sorry_ ," Fuyuki replied sheepishly. " _It's just… I've never felt something so wonderful before. And I'm just sooo, so happy that Momoka's alive. I want to spend as much time with her as I possibly can_."

The kid did have a point in that regard, at least. It wouldn't be long until his time was cut short.

"Okay, well it's great that you're having the time of your life with your little girlfriend, but there are other things you should be worrying about." He narrowed his eyes. "Like all the assassins that have been coming after us."

" _What?_ " Fuyuki sounded surprised. " _But… I haven't seen any. No, I don't believe this. The Nishizawas' security is top-notch!_ "

"It doesn't matter how top-notch it is, Fuyuki. Everyone wants my head. They'll do _anything_ to get in here. Even this safe-house isn't safe for me." He walked up to the wall and entered a code into a hidden keypad he'd installed. About sixteen video screens appeared, four of which displayed assassins hiding away in various places of the Nishizawa manor.

"Ku ku ku… this one looks like he's right down the hall," said Kululu. He inputted another code, and the screens showed metal hands fixing the assassins into place, and whirring metal blades being lowered from where the cameras were. The assassins screamed, and Kululu shut the screens off. "Kuuu, ku ku ku ku ku."

Fuyuki became frightened at that diabolical laughter. " _No… this can't be true. We would have noticed. The Nishizawa safe-house can't be filled with assassins—_ "

The wall blew up.

"Ku ku ku… oh look, here comes one right now," Kululu said as the silhouette of a figure formed amongst the dust and debris. "What did I tell ya, Fuyuki? Believe me yet?"

However, when the figure approached and revealed herself to Kululu, he was shocked to see that this was not his everyday assassin. He recognized those three eyes and strange garb. This was an angel. And not just any angel, at that, but his cousin-in-law, Fear.

"Shoot…." Kululu ran his hand over his mouth. "What does _she_ want?"

" _It doesn't matter!_ " Fuyuki yelled. " _Run away, Kululu!_ "

"I don't have to run anywhere," said Kululu. "It's not like the other angels are a threat anymore. I'll just talk to her and see what she wants."

"At last, I've found you, Demon King," Fear said coldly to him, breaking him from his conversation with Fuyuki.

"Ku. Good for you." Kululu clapped for her. "Well? What do you need? Here to take Mois away? Here to assassinate me and become the next leader of demons?"

Fear didn't answer. She summoned a chain in her hand, which swung at Kululu like a whip. He managed to dodge. "Okay, Fuyuki. Have it your way. We'll run away now."

Just as he tried to do so, Fear launched the chains at him and they tangled around his ankles. She flung it over a hook on the ceiling, knocking down a lamp, and pulled him upward so that he dangled upside-down. Summoning more chains, he was wrapped up like a caterpillar, then added more chains onto his head so he couldn't use his horns to bat her away.

Fear approached him, pointing her staff at him as she prepared to plunge it into his heart. "You may be well-acquainted with the properties of lightning, Demon King," she spoke, "but I assure you that even you won't be able to survive the voltage that I'm going to deliver to your host's heart."

Kululu blew a strand of hair out of Fuyuki's eye as he dangled there. "Well this is unfortunate."

" _Kululu! Do something!_ " Fuyuki pleaded. " _I can't die!_ " He began to wail.

Kululu looked around the room for an idea of something that he could use. At the moment, he was completely defenseless. All he could hope for now was for some miracle to drop in and save him…..

That miracle was delivered as one of the doors burst open and Mois stepped into the room.

"I heard the magnificent explosion and I came at once!" she said. Noticing Fear in the room, she gasped and ran up to her cousin, hugging her. "Fear! It's been so long!"

She completely ignored Kululu and Fuyuki, chained up and dangling from the ceiling. She noticed them, but she didn't really care.

"Mois." Fear smiled and stroked her hair. "How have you been doing? Do you wish to come back with me to the angels?"

 _At least she's forgotten me for the time being,_ thought Kululu.

"No." Mois shook her head. "Everyone back home makes fun of me. And I kind of like it here…." She fidgeted timidly. "I get to spend all the time in the world with my demon prince. I'm learning so many new lessons that no one ever told me in Drune, like how people die when they are killed, but only for one week, and then they return."

Fear gave her a strange look. "I have never heard of such a thing."

"And also," she said with a bright smile, "the Demon King hardly ever bothers me anymore!" At last she took notice of Kululu. She waved casually to him as he dangled there helplessly. "Oh, Fear, if you could just see my romance with Keroro blossom…"

Kululu rolled his eyes. "Hey, Fear. If you're gonna kill me, then just do it already," he told her sarcastically.

Fear looked at him, then at her staff, then back at him.

" _NOOOOO!_ " Fuyuki howled. " _I don't want to die! Not when Momoka just came back!_ "

"Oh, hush it," said Kululu. It wasn't like he could do anything. And it wasn't like Mois was going to save him. They were pretty much doomed at this point, unless he thought of some way to trick Fear out of killing him. He started planning.

"Wait! Don't kill him!" said Mois.

 _…Okay, I stand corrected,_ thought Kululu. Maybe Mois was going to help him.

"Um, why?" Fear lowered her staff. "I'm doing this for you, Mois."

"What?" Kululu asked, confused. "So Mois can be Demon Queen? Well, officially? Ku ku, I'm pretty sure _she'd_ need to do the deed in order to do that."

Fear gave him a cold look. "I care not for the leadership and power. This is merely for a silent promise I made to Mois long ago…" Her hands tightened around her staff. "…that I would destroy whoever put her through that awful experience when she was so young."

 _Awful experience…?_ Kululu wondered what she meant by this. _Oh, she must be talking about Mois's pregnancy…. Ooh, awkward. Yeah, I guess I am at fault for that._

Still swinging, Kululu let out a sigh. "It's really none of your business, Fear."

"Perhaps not, but in my cousin's lack of memory, I must protect her when she herself cannot," Fear replied. She approached Kululu again.

Mois looked down with a worried look on her face, debating what she should do. Should she let her cousin do away with him? It was true, he _was_ the one at fault for her awful experience when she was younger, although she didn't know how Fear had known about that incident in the woods. But at the same time… when Kululu found out, he seemed almost as horrified. He consoled her… held her…. She had felt so comforted and at peace in his arms. That had been the first time that she thought to herself that, if they really had shared a life in the past, maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.

"Fear… hold on a second. Let me talk to him," she requested. "…Alone."

Fear nodded and stepped out of the room, respecting her wish.

"Um…" she looked off to the side shyly. "Thank you… Kululu… for soothing me when I told you about the scar." She clutched her shirt where her scar hid behind.

"Of course?" He said it almost like it was a question. "It's my job, Mois." Seeing her downcast eyes, he assured her, "Don't worry about what Fear's concerned about. It's not going to happen again. I wouldn't put you through that ever again."

Mois just nodded timidly, still looking at the ground. That was good that it wouldn't happen again. Once was enough. No more babies. No more experiences like that. "Do you really mean it?" she had to ask.

After a bit, Kululu told her, "Yes." He'd given it quite an awful lot of thought. "Of course I do. Why would I make you go through something like that again if it would just remind you of the unfortunate horrors that befell you last time when things went wrong? Plus, hiding from assassins for the rest of my life is no way to raise a kid. Ku ku. Nor is going back to the demon realm each time I die in a host body."

He said it all like he sounded certain that they would get back together at some point. _You could say, counting unhatched chickens?_ thought Mois.

Grudgingly, she reminded him, "But… I have a human lifespan this life."

Kululu turned stone cold. "…What?"

"Yes." She nodded sadly and looked away from him.

Kululu didn't know how to respond. Mois had a human lifespan? No, that couldn't have been true. Ten thousand years he'd searched for her… and then she was just going to die on him again? That couldn't happen! He wouldn't allow it!

But when he saw Mois's expression, he realized she probably didn't want to talk about it. That was good. He didn't either. She was probably wrong, anyway.

"So… nice cousin of yours," he commented. "She seems to really like you."

"Oh! Yeah!" Mois agreed. "She's like a big sister…. You could say, blood is thicker than water?"

Kululu frowned. "How about just 'family sticks together.' "

"Oh," Mois said again, realizing why he didn't like her phrasing. She rubbed her arm awkwardly. "Um… so… what have you been up to these past few days?"

"Trying to get rid of assassins left and right, mostly," he said. "Now, are you going to unchain me from the ceiling? Or are we just gonna chat?"

Not recognizing the sarcasm, Mois actually considered this.

" _This isn't working_ ," Fuyuki said. " _We're either going to be stuck up here forever, or we're going to die by the end of the day. Kululu, isn't there anything you can do to make your wife love you again so we don't die?_ "

Kululu let out another sigh. "Can I ask you something?"

"Um, okay. Sure."

"Why is it that you like Keroro?"

"Keroro?" She didn't expect such a question, but she had known of Kululu's jealousy. "Well, he's just so kind, and romantic, and cool…."

"What, and I'm none of those things?" Kululu pretended to sound hurt. "Wow. Ku ku ku. You didn't use to think that."

Mois furrowed her eyebrows. "Well, I met Keroro before you, okay? That past life we had…. You're clinging onto it an awful lot. For me, I've started over." She paused a moment, and tested, "Perhaps you should, too."

As Fuyuki listened to the conversation, he just felt awful for Kululu. There he'd been, for three days straight, building a romance with Momoka, while Kululu just wallowed in misery because he would never have that sort of life with the one he loved again.

Kululu was quiet. Then he said, "I suppose it's crossed my mind a couple times that you might not ever get your memory back. That this is the way it's always going to be."

Mois was silent, listening to him as he spoke.

"I've been foolish. I thought that we could have still had something between us, but I have been clinging onto the past. You're right." He paused, inhaling. "The universe has reset you… but I haven't changed at all. Ku ku ku. If only I could be reset, too."

"Wh-what do you mean?" she asked, her hands shaking.

"Reset mechanisms," he said with a laugh. "It's like you said when you smashed my pocket watch at the tech fair. Everything needs a reset mechanism. But… ku. That was an awful long time ago." After a second, he realized his mistake. "Oh. Oh yeah. Letting go of the past. Right."

Mois stood frozen as she looked past him. _Pocket watch… tech fair…? Reset mechanisms? What? What's going on?_ She fell to her knees, clutching her head.

After a minute of them looking at each other, Mois swished her hand through the air and unchained Kululu. He fell to the ground painfully.

"Ow. Ku ku. Thanks," he said. "I'll send your cousin in so you two can talk and catch up or whatever."

As he left the room, Fuyuki spoke to him in his head. " _Wow. I… don't believe what I just heard, Kululu. You're letting her go? Just like that?_ "

Kululu laughed at him. "Ku ku ku! Let her go? Of course not. I'd never do that. I'm just going to give her some time, that's all. I can't just force her to accept the fact that she was once married to me, if she doesn't remember."

He had tried flirting. That hadn't worked. So now he would try giving her room.

He would try everything until he reached his goal. What that goal was, he wasn't sure. But he wouldn't stop trying till he reached it. He would never give up. Not now, not then, not ever.

* * *

When Fear returned to the room, she was shocked to find her cousin lying on the ground and sobbing.

"What? Mois, what's going on? Where is the Demon King?" She narrowed her eyes. "Explain what happened. Was this another of his mind games? Did he traumatize you again?"

"N-no," Mois blubbered out. "E-everything makes sense now."

Fear couldn't disagree more.

Mois just continued bawling.

"So… do you still need me to kill him?"

"No!" she yelled. "Why would you…. Why would you even do that?"

"He impregnated you when you were so young," she explained. "And I know you can't remember, Mois, but—"

"Eternity." Her voice was quiet. "Destiny. Ruin. Rainbow. Catastrophe. Oblivion. Bliss. Fate."

"…Gesundheit?"

"Those were all the names I wanted." Mois sat up. "Fear, thank you for visiting me, but you have no need to kill Kululu."

Fear did not sound convinced. "He has a track record for making bad decisions, Mois. Who is to know that one day he may hurt you again?"

"He didn't hurt me the last time," she insisted. "I was only hurt when I saw the half-dead monster form of that baby… the same baby we both were so excited to have together." She looked up at her. "Yes, we may have made a few dumb decisions because we were so young, but we made those dumb decisions _together_."

This wasn't particularly the most consoling thing to say, and Fear frowned.

Mois flung her arms around her cousin. "Fear… thank you for coming. Really. But my husband has come back to me, and we have a lot of catching up to do." She wiped away the rest of her tears.

"Mois." Fear pulled her away from her. "Do I actually need to leave? Are you happy and satisfied here?"

"Yes," Mois told her. "I am."

Fear wiped away Mois's tears and laughed a little. "I… I suppose I've misread things wrong this whole time, then." She hugged her back. "Very well. I shall leave."

"Thank you again." Mois squeezed her hand, and then watched as Fear departed through the hole in the wall of the sunroom.

After waving her cousin off, Mois ran after where she had seen Kululu go. She had some very important business to take care of.

She remembered everything. And she couldn't wait to tell Kululu.

* * *

When Kululu and Fuyuki returned to the group, Fuyuki had previously been intending on talking with Momoka again about all the assassins in the manor, but then he got distracted by more kisses. Momoka was just sooo perfect!

Kululu wasn't trying to break them apart, either. He allowed Fuyuki to keep their distance from Mois, knowing that she probably needed it.

Neither of them expected it when Mois jumped onto his back from behind and shouted gleefully, "Kululu!"

"Oh! Um, I'm sorry, but Fuyuki and I are sort of busy at the moment," Momoka clarified to Mois, gripping Fuyuki's hand.

"Yeah, sorry. Maybe you can come back later?" he asked.

"Oh. You're Fuyuki." Mois stepped away, disappointed. This would be a problem she had forgotten to take account for. Kululu was in someone else's body. And that someone else currently had a high-maintenance young romance of his own to worry about.

Part of her wanted to throw a black orb at him. She did wait ten thousand years and go through all her ridiculing and torment for _this_.

But the other part of her knew there was nothing that she could do about Fuyuki, not for at least another few months. She would just have to wait till Kululu won the Demon Fight, and _then_ attack him with kisses and affection.

"What did you need?" Fuyuki asked her curiously.

"To wait," Mois quickly said. "Um, that is, I uh, just wanted to tell Kululu that Fear left. That's all."

"Oh. Okay." Fuyuki nodded. "Well. See you then."

"Yeah." She waved. "Bye."

As Mois walked away, she realized what an awful mistake she'd made. If she had just said out loud that she had her memories back, Kululu would have heard, and he would have made sure to take control of the body so Fuyuki wouldn't be bothering them anymore.

 _Well, not like that Fukki boy is going to let me have any opportunity to do that,_ she decided. She would just have to make an opportunity of her own… some way to get Kululu's attention.

She continued excessively romancing Keroro, hoping that Kululu would become annoyed again and finally say something. She was somewhat confused why she liked Keroro for a while, as well. But at least Kululu would finally get jealous again when she paid attention to him. Right?

Oddly, however, he didn't do anything.

Her heart sank. The more she thought about it, the more she noticed how much Kululu had changed.

He was less cruel, less cold-hearted. She was able to tell this much, with the ways that he had tried to make it up to Fuyuki when they thought Momoka was still dead. Perhaps that meant he was a little more empathetic, too. He was more thoughtful, sassier and more sarcastic, a lot less easygoing, more cautious… grimmer.

And he had thought _she_ was the one who changed!

It wasn't particularly a bad thing, how much different he was now, but she just felt so bad for him.

Instead of telling Kululu about how her memories returned, something else happened for Mois. She grew curious—curious and quiet. She started observing Kululu, drowning in the sorrow of the ten millennia she hadn't been there for him, the ten millennia with him that they had missed spending together because she was dead.

Who knew ten thousand years of lonesomeness could change a person so much?

* * *

"A few Nishizawa spies were sent out to Drune," Paul later explained to Momoka and the others. "They let it slip when they plan to strike. The first town they have been planning to attack happens to be this one. We've also caught word that, when they attack, they plan to execute the Demon King first and foremost."

Giroro beamed. "They'll be practically useless without the Messenger of Derp on their side."

"Quite true," Paul agreed. "Getting the Messenger of Derp back on their side is also another of their desires." His eyes went to Mois. "I am quite sorry, Ma'am, but after the war, it appears they still plan to have you judged…."

"So they're just going to use me and then get rid of me immediately afterward?" she asked, shocked.

"It's not likely that they'll kill you," Kululu spoke up. "They need you desperately, since you're the last angel with any of your original abilities."

"What about the rest of the demons?" Dororo asked. "Back in Drune, the angels planned on executing us."

"Mr. Assassin's got a point," said Kululu. "Why would they want to kill me and become Demon King if they execute all the demons immediately afterward?"

"Oh, but they don't plan to," said Paul. He dabbed at his forehead with a handkerchief as he went on with the report. "Evidently, the angels plan on using the rest of the demons for their first phase of the war, to get rid of all the humans. After the humans are gone, the demons' food source shall be cut off, just like they originally planned during the Ancient War… and then they will no longer need the Messenger of Derp to help them rid the entire species."

"I've never been so thankful for being a mortal," said Tamama.

"And what if they can't get the Messenger of Derp to kill the humans?" Momoka asked worriedly. "What will the angels do then?"

Paul's face grew dark. "My only guess… now that the angels have their weapons back, things are going to be very brutal."

"We can fight them off." Giroro clenched his fist in determination.

It was true. If Mois didn't go back to the angels, that meant everyone still had a fighting chance against them. They had the Nishizawa corps, and the various militaries of the towns' governments.

Everyone turned to Mois all at once. They started shouting things like "It's so great to have you in the group!" and "Please stay with us!"

"I—I wasn't planning on going back to Drune in the first place," Mois admitted.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you for your report, Paul. Is that all?" asked Momoka.

"Yes."

"Very well. You are dismissed," she said to him. He caught what she meant—it was Fuyuki-smoochin' time. So he took his leave.

"Fighting the angels, huh…" Fuyuki said to himself. He huffed out a sigh.

Seeing him lost in thought, Momoka gave his hand a squeeze. "Don't worry, Fuyuki. I'll protect you."

He smiled at her. "I'll protect you, too, Momoka."

Momoka swooned in happiness.

Natsumi just eyed her brother in sadness.

"Natsumi?" Giroro looked at her. "What's the matter? You haven't said a single word the entire meeting."

"I know. I'm just… thinking," she confessed.

"Yeah." He rubbed her back. "I know this war is going to be hard, Natsumi, but we'll pull through it."

"That… wasn't actually what I was thinking about." She kind of blushed.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"I mean…" She avoided eye contact with him. "Fuyuki and Momoka. Their relationship is just so perfect, so happy… all from the beginning." She exhaled. "Communication is so easy for them. It's just… he's my little brother. I can't help feeling a bit jealous."

Giroro nodded as he listened to her. Honestly, he had felt a bit jealous, himself. "You don't need to be worrying about that anymore, Natsumi. What's in the past is gone. We both made many stupid mistakes. I didn't communicate with you properly, and you killed half my race." He stoked some hair off her cheek. "It's a normal thing for relationships." _Uh, at least I think it is._

Natsumi smiled and clutched his hand. Giroro always knew what to say nowadays. It was true, what was in the past was done. Since their escape from the angels, their relationship had been steadily improving. And all the romantic locations in Momoka's safe-house was definitely a plus.

Although the two of them were planning the war and what to do when it finally arrived along with the angels, they were still making time for each other. The two of them had never been happier.

Relationships were pretty tough, but they were learning. They were working through the bumps.


	29. Communication

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **My sister is starting school tomorrow, so it might be a while before the next chapter. But there are three more chapters left. 30, and 32 will be runwithscissors's. And 31 will be mine. So we're almost to the end! Nice, huh?**

 **Hopefully you enjoy the chapter. Things are getting a bit shorter now that it's getting closer to the end.**

 **(Note from Scissors. Last chapter Kululu said he didn't want kids anymore, now he does again? Idk, I guess he was being self-piteous and not telling the truth.)**

* * *

Fuyuki and Momoka continued kissing on a nice couch. They had been doing this for a while, being the couple in the background who were always together. Usually nobody bothered them, supporting them to the best of their abilities, but people were getting tired of it lately.

Tired and jealous, as their own relationships were not as happy.

Well, all except Dororo and Koyuki, who were completely happy, healthy, and neither of whom seemed to be the jealous type. They also seemed to be the type who could focus on the threat of assassins and find the appropriate time to kiss - a time which wasn't in front of anyone so nobody could see Dororo's mouth.

Everybody cursed this fact.

 _I should have gotten Koyuki as a host instead,_ Kululu grumbled in his head. _That would have been way better. At least she can focus on other things besides her relationship._ At the same time, both Momoka and Dororo were probably equally disgusting to have to see his host kissing, so there was that.

The threat of assassins coming after him remained at large, too. And Fuyuki still didn't seem to be paying any attention!

 _I can't live the rest of my life like this._ He knew this would be an impossible feat. He had plans, after all! Plans of what he wanted to do with his life.

Rule the demon world with an iron fist, and have like, maybe nine kids. _Yeah. Nine is a good number._ He told himself. He hated brats. They were terrible, terrible things, but at the same time, he kind of wanted to be a daddy.

He had waited a long time to be a daddy and he kept trying to deny it to himself, but he kept having vivid fantasies of cradling babies in his arms. Their horns being uniquely their own, their eyes being just like their mother's (in other words sickeningly pure and sparkly), and having a beautiful mix of either purple or silver hair.

No matter how he denied it, if it was Mois's baby with him he would have loved those brats. No, more than loved, he desired having them incredibly. He wanted a family that wouldn't reject him like his previous one.

But with the assassins after him, there was no way that a family could be his.

"Would you like some rich lobster, Fuyuki?" Momoka asked between kisses. Instantly, a cart wheeled over thanks to Paul with a banquet laid out for them. Candlelight lit the room as if to change their atmosphere to a romantic dinner so they could date.

"I'd love to, Momoka," Fuyuki told her.

"And then for dessert, m-maybe you could have m-me..." Momoka said it too quietly for Fuyuki to hear. She wanted more kisses.

" _Ku ku ku... I do not want to hear this crap, Fuyuki. Remember, keep it PG,_ " Kululu reminded him.

"I have no plans to NOT keep it PG!" Fuyuki reminded him. Kululu rolled his eyes. He knew it was just Momoka being Momoka.

He thought about what Fuyuki was doing, just focusing on him and Momoka. He wanted to yell, to scream for Fuyuki to stop, to be smarter. They were in the middle of a war time, after all, but the weird thing was... Fuyuki was reminding him way too much of what he was like thousand years ago.

 _Long ago... This was me and Mois. Only paying attention to each other and not focusing on the war. He's doing the same stupid things I did._ Kululu knew the right thing to do was to break this up, to remind Fuyuki of the trouble they had to deal with, but he just didn't have the heart.

Fuyuki was just like him, after all. And he knew Fuyuki's story wouldn't have a happy ending, just like his didn't.

And for that, he was sorry for him.

* * *

He let Fuyuki kiss for most of the night until Fuyuki finally went to bed. Nights seemed to be the only time Kululu could actually do things nowadays, walking around in Fuyuki's body while Fuyuki got some rest.

Instead of focusing on putting on some added security measures in his room for safety, though, he focused on himself - a luxury that he hadn't given himself in the last few things.

He thought about his future nine children - the ideal. _I want them... But it occurs to me that Mois's probably still afraid of having children after that half-dead monster baby that came out of her... She probably doesn't want children._

He needed to figure out if his fantasizes that he so desperately wanted were even on the table, or else they would never happen.

He left Fuyuki's bed to visit Mois and wake her up.

* * *

It was the middle of the night. Mois was sleeping peacefully - well, about as peacefully as someone who had just remembered thousands of years' worth of memories could, and then decided that it was not the appropriate time to tell their husband that she had remembered.

"Mois," Kululu whispered, shaking her awake. She was such a heavy sleeper that it took a while of desperate shaking to awaken her.

Eventually she groggily woke up.

"Kululu?" she asked, rubbing her eyes, "Wh-what do you want?"

She was half-asleep. Now was the perfect time to ask her his questions. "Do... Do you ever want children in the future?" he asked.

He was unaware she was tuning into reality much quicker than she usually did when she was half-asleep. She wasn't sure why he was asking such a question, but she answered him anyway. "No."

Kululu felt his heart break. But... what about the millions and millions of children she had always talked about having?

"I'm... I'm afraid of childbirth," she softly admitted. "It... It was painful. So painful. And images of that half-angel baby keep running through my head." Her voice shook in fear. "I dislike babies. They scare me because of that, but..."

Kululu clutched her hand. "But?" He asked, questioningly. Had her old self come back to her? The Mois that wanted a family with him?

"But I know I will have to have children. My children... from what I've learned of that half-dead thing with wings... will be a full angel. And because of that, me breeding is desirable to my species. After all, they don't need me, the Messenger of Derp, if they have angels with wings," she told him.

Kululu felt his stomach twist in a not from being sickened. They wanted her to breed for them? Just so they could have their species back? "I'm sorry. So you truthfully wouldn't want a family in the future." He felt himself disappointed, but he didn't want to push his selfishness on her. She had a lot to work through.

Mois thought for a minute. "I... I want..." _I want our child though. I miss the baby we were going to have._ She wanted to tell him, but she knew that nothing good would come of it. He still had to deal with Fuyuki in his body, and for some reason he had a soft spot for the boy. If it was the choice between their future and giving Fuyuki a few weeks of happiness with Momoka, he would choose Fuyuki.

She didn't know how Fuyuki and Kululu had become such good friends. He had even allowed him to punch her in the gut, although he had been mad about it.

She couldn't hope to see what was happening in their mind, and for that she was a little jealous. _I guess I'll just keep playing around with him, like food, pretending I don't have my memories,_ she thought to herself. She felt a little spiteful of the new relationships Kululu had formed while she herself had nobody except Kululu. She felt sorry for him, sure, being without her for ten thousand years, but also a little jealous.

"What do you want?" Kululu asked, hearing her small squeaks. Was there hope for a family yet?

"Keroro's babies. I want to have my demon prince's babies," she told him meanly. She had to stop herself from smiling at the shock on his face.

"That's not going to happen," Kululu told her.

"Oh? Are you jealous?" she asked teasingly, sitting up in her bed to look at him. Kululu took a tip from Fuyuki. He had seen Fuyuki use this same move on a girl, and it would have worked if he hadn't cock-blocked it. He moved forward to Mois, and saw that she wasn't hitting him away, he moved his mouth to her ear to whisper to her, almost in a seductive voice. "It's not going to happen because Keroro's gay as hell." His hot breath on her earlobe caused her to blush.

"But... are you also saying that because you're jealous?" she asked curiously.

"Of course I'm jealous, Mois. You'll always be the person I love most, I want to be the one to put some babies into you," he told her eloquently. "Not Keroro of all people. I want you, and I want you to want me back. Not him."

Mois couldn't help but smile. She liked hearing what Kululu thought of her, and she admittedly liked hearing about how he was jealous. She pulled him by the shirt collar down onto her bed with him. He tried to position himself so he was over her and not crushing her.

He looked down to her, laying on her mattress looking up at him, carefully. _Why did she do that? What does she want? Is she just going to fall asleep like a light switch or something?_ That was very likely. She had done that a lot.

He couldn't help but feel himself heat up and blush at their close proximity. It had been so long since he had been in her bed with her.

Fuyuki was asleep, and that was a good plus too... He instinctively bent down, as if to kiss her, and her legs entangled themselves against his waist as she pressed up against him.

He tried to calm down. But he couldn't deny that he was excited. He didn't know what was happening but he was just going to go with it. He brushed his hand up against her hair, sweeping her hair out of the way so he could see her forehead and her beautiful third eye.

"I love you," he told her, his lips approaching hers. Mois closed her eyes.

" _Kululu!_ " A sad pathetic whine, interrupted his almost-sexy time. Fuyuki had woken up, but his voice seemed so groggy that he probably wouldn't realize what Kululu had almost been up to in his body. " _I need to pee. Get me to a bathroom_."

Kululu felt himself blush with shame. Stupid body. He knew that he couldn't procrastinate on that.

Without a word, he got off of Mois and left her alone. She just watched him go, not knowing the reason why he had left.

She grumbled to herself and went back to sleep.

* * *

She was mad the next day. Was it something that she did? Kululu's host had been asleep, to her knowledge. Why hadn't he kissed her?

Maybe she just needed to get his attention again, anger him, still play the part of not knowing her memories to make her constantly on his mind of how to remind her of their past together.

Keroro seemed usable. So the next day in front of Kululu, she ran up to Keroro.

"My lovely demon prince!" She exclaimed, and put her mouth against his in a sweet good-morning kiss.

"Why does this keep happening to me?" Keroro asked, tears falling down his face. He knew he was charismatic, but with ladies like these it almost felt like he was unlucky.

"JEALOUSY! That woman stole my man!" Tamama hissed. How dare she kiss Keroro?

" _I have no complaints_." Saburo liked being popular, even if it was in the bad sort of way. He just missed his popularity of being the hero of the world.

Kululu watched shocked. Maybe she had been half-asleep last night? Or, her instinct had taken over from ten thousand years ago.

 _Those memories are really a problem. I need to figure out how to get them back. And quickly._ He didn't like this at all.

Mois was pleased by his shock.

* * *

 _Mr. Keroro's still avoiding me,_ Tamama grumbled to himself. Even more annoying, though, was that woman. His love rival, the one who wanted to steal Mr. Keroro's heart!

He needed to get rid of her.

He knew that the safe house was a prime target for assassins, so nobody would question one more, right?

Using his phone, he called up one of the few demons who was his friend back on the demon plane. He had been lucky enough to find him on social media after browsing tips and tricks to kill Kululu.

Although he found this guy annoying and didn't really think of him as a friend, this guy did seem to admire Tamama's Tamama Impacts back on the demon plane.

"Taruru?" Tamama asked on his phone. "I need a favor from you... You want to become a hero, right? Well, I happen to know where the Messenger of Death is... And her sleeping habits. Do you want to kill her and become a hero of the demon realm?"

Taruru listened very closely.

* * *

Mois slept a lot. And her sleeping habits were pretty predictable. Her room, however, was guarded by a pass code that everybody in the house had, except Mois, so she couldn't escape. She was still their prisoner, after all.

Taruru slipped in during one of the late afternoons. He held a dagger in his hand, ready to plunge it into her heart.

Kululu noticed the door to her room wide open, when Fuyuki and Momoka were holding hands and walking through the hallways looking at art. _That's concerning. She could escape at any given moment!_ He took over the body and ran to her room.

There, he saw a demon on top of her, it looked to be one of the demons who had possessed a human unwillingly like the days of old and had his own appearance instead of a humans appearance. He had little tiny horns and freckles and acne. He looked kind of like a dork.

"The Demon King!" Taruru yelped. His eyes glowed as if he was about to shoot laser beams.

"Oh no, you don't." Kululu wagged his finger. In a moment, lighting surged into Taruru's body, causing him to collapse.

Even a large amount of lightning didn't cause Mois to wake up, though. She was a sound sleeper.

After frying the demon, Kululu dragged him away to question him. He didn't look dead.

"Who's... Who's that?" Momoka asked, seeing Kululu drag Taruru away.

"An assassin. Probably after me again. Mois might have gotten in the way. Ku." He was bringing danger to all that were there.

" _Oh no... Another assassin?_ " Fuyuki asked. He thought those had stopped.

Taruru groggily woke up, but panicked as soon as he saw Kululu's creepy smirk.

"EEK!" he screamed, and ran off as fast as he could, tumbling out of a window to avoid questioning.

Kululu frowned. He could figure out enough though from just Taruru's appearance in Mois's manor.

"We might have a traitor in our midst, Fuyuki," Kululu told him. "Every single one of us but Mois has her room number. So somebody must have given out those codes."

Fuyuki gulped. All of their friends were so kind! It...It couldn't be...

* * *

Kululu thought very hard about how to lure this traitor out. Eventually a plan formed in his head. A perfect plan that would help lure the traitor out, keep the assassins off his tail, and possibly (and hopefully) get Mois to remember her memories.

Although, he knew he couldn't sell this plan to Fuyuki for that reason.

" _I want to fake our death,_ " he told Fuyuki while they were alone. Fuyuki's answer was immediate.

"No," he told him.

" _Why not? It would do a lot of things for us. Nobody would be able to go after the Demon King, if the Demon King was already dead. We'd finally be free of assassins, and for your lifetime, I could just pretend to be dead to keep from being hunted. Also, we have a traitor in our midst. If we pretend to be dead for just a few short weeks, when we come back to the group we'll see who the traitor is because they'll be the most disappointed and least happy to see us alive,_ " Kululu explained.

"You have a lot of enemies, Kululu. I think a lot of people would be disappointed to see you alive," Fuyuki reminded. He saw the need of the plan, but he didn't like it. And he wouldn't go through with it.

" _Hey. I'm a little hurt,_ " Kululu faked.

"Hey! I'd be sad to see you dead, I just don't think some of the others would," Fuyuki confided. Kululu was a little happy.

" _They'd be happy to see YOU alive though. You're a popular, nice kid. The one who cares about your life least will easily be exposed because of our plan,_ " he said.

Fuyuki knew who cared about his life least. It was Kululu.

"I... I can't, Kululu," he said. "Momoka..."

" _What about Momoka?_ "

"I can't make her think I'm dead. I went through that pain, and it's traumatizing. You won't be the same after that, and I would never hurt her like that," he told him. "So no. We aren't doing that."

Kululu was disappointed. There had to be SOME way of convincing Fuyuki his plan was the right one.

* * *

For once, Kululu ran into luck, and didn't have to manipulate Fuyuki into it. When Fuyuki was strolling along to find Momoka and probably make out with her again, he saw her talking to Paul in a room.

Kululu kept them hidden to listen in.

"You know, mistress. You could have had these weeks of happiness with Fuyuki much earlier if you just came back to him the moment you had supposedly died, instead of waiting a few weeks at the manor," Paul told her. It seemed Momoka was getting worried about Fuyuki's time running out.

"I know! I know, but he wouldn't be so affectionate to me if I hadn't let him think I was dead for a few weeks. Taking something away from someone makes it more desirable. And it worked to my advantage, didn't it? He told me he loved me, and now we're together and it's magical!" Momoka smiled dreamily.

Fuyuki was shocked, though. MOMOKA had faked her death? She could have saved him all that pain by merely saying she was fine and joining him instead of waiting in her manor?

Fuyuki was horrified. And he was mad at Momoka and the pain he had experienced.

He was also inexperienced at having bumps in his relationship. Bumps like this one. Instead of doing the healthy thing like talking it out with her, he took drastic measures to show her how he felt.

"Let's fake our death, Kululu," he said.

Kululu grinned. " _Good._ "

Kululu wondered if this sucky communication ran in the kid's family.

* * *

They decided it would be best outside, by a huge shed that the Nishizawas owned. Kululu littered the shed with oil while he waited for assassins to come and attack him.

" _Anything else we need?_ " Fuyuki asked.

Kululu took off Fuyuki's shirt. "Evidence that I died." He started cutting it up and throw it out onto a bush so it wouldn't burn. He cut his wrist and dripped some of their blood on it.

" _I feel so naked!_ " Fuyuki complained, covering his nipples shyly.

"Weak. Imagine what _actually_ being naked feels like. Ku, ku, ku. Much different than just being shirtless," Kululu told him.

Fuyuki just blushed.

It didn't take long for several assassins to come out, ready to attack. They had blades ready.

"We'll be the ones to end you, Demon King!" they said like generic enemies that you level-ground in an RPG.

Kululu smiled. "I'd like to see you try. Really, it would be hilarious," he laughed. The three assassins launched at him. Idly, he dodged away, as if he was doing a dance, leading them into the shed. Sometimes he would grab their wrists before their blades reached him and throw them into the wall. Eventually, when they were tired out, he let lightning surge into their bodies.

"You can't kill me," he told them. He let them see the oil he was standing on.

One of them got a brilliant idea, or what he thought was a brilliant idea. He lit a match and threw it into the oil.

"SUCKER!" Kululu laughed. He used his demon powers to crawl away with his horns, as if he was floating. The entire shed lit aflame, burning everyone in it, except him, because he had escaped.

Kululu grinned and fled to the forest. Their group was sure to investigate pretty soon.

* * *

Everybody stood in awe at the burning shed.

"What... What happened?" Giroro asked. The explosion had been tremendous. The only thing that seemed to have survived the explosion were three jeeps.

Saburo ducked into the shed to inspect it, hopping Keroro's luck would keep him from not dying. Paul and the Nishizawa guards hosed the shed down.

Saburo dragged out a few dead assassins. "Another assassin attempt," he deduced. "They burned to death probably from an oil spill."

"Assassins? Are they after Fuyuki again?" Natsumi looked concerned. Now that she thought about it, Fuyuki had been the last one in the shed... Kululu had wanted some parts to make a weird invention. "FUYUKI!" she yelled. loudly. "Are you in there? Are you okay?"

"I... I found this." Dororo handed her Fuyuki's shirt. Blood covered it - Fuyuki's blood. "It has your brother's scent. It was likely that the Demon King was attacked and burned to death in there." He told her the news grimly.

Natsumi dropped to the ground, crying.

"No... No... That can't be!" Momoka screamed. Her security had to be better than this! She grabbed Fuyuki's shirt and held it close. It was definitely his, she knew this.

And if he wasn't in the shed, he had likely burned in the explosion. She cried and cried, dropping to the ground with Natsumi.

Everybody cried for Fuyuki. Everybody except Mois. _No! No! Kululu!_ She screamed loudly. "It can't end like this! Not after all we've been through!"

She... She hadn't even told him she had her memories back. She had just played with him selfishly.

She dropped to the ground and cried, pounding on the ground below her, as if pounding would make the planet experience her heartbreak and misery just as much.

They all cried, but nobody noticed how much Mois mourned as she beat the ground, her fists filled with anger at the world the two of them had been born into and how fate had jilted them once again.

* * *

Kululu wandered around in the forest, trying to keep him and Fuyuki a far distance away from the safe house. The plan was to camp for two weeks and then return.

If he walked a week away from the house, and then a week back, things would be fine. So he and Fuyuki started their journey.

* * *

It was days of camping before there was a rustling noise in the bushes. Like someone had tracked them down, or assassins had caught up to them.

Kululu had made sure to keep a low profile, and hadn't been bothered by the assassins while they had camped. From what he read on social media, they had given up after he died, wondering who was the new Demon King now, if there even was one anymore.

The demons were fought amongst themselves on whether someone would randomly become king, or if they would become a democracy.

So he was a little surprised that someone might have tracked them down and was hiding in the bushes.

The person stepped out when they noticed Kululu was paying attention to them.

"Kululu." It was a long blue-haired girl.

"Rinono," Kululu hissed back. The person who had told everybody about how to kill the Demon King and had betrayed him.

"I finally found you - " She was cut off by Kululu leaping at her to attack. He pushed her down and put horns around her neck to strangle her.

She gasped. Trying to speak his name, to gasp it out.

" _NO! No more killing family members! Especially not in this body!_ " Fuyuki told him. He couldn't bare to remember the time he had put his hands around Natsumi's neck. It was bad memories.

 _Oops... I forgot Natsumi would be saddened by my death too..._ Fuyuki remembered. He had wanted Momoka to be sad, but he hadn't really thought about anyone else. He giggled a bit to himself as Kululu let go.

"I'm only doing this because my host has a weak appetite for killing... Ku, ku, ku," said Kululu. "But I can't let you leave to tattle about me still being alive."

"Why wouldn't you be alive?" Rinono asked confused.

"What do you mean? Didn't you hear I died?" Kululu was confused. Rinono blinked.

"Was this on social media?" she asked. Kululu nodded.

"Ah... I don't really know how to do social media. Rei handles it for us... We have negative followers," she said. Her host was pretty unlucky. She wouldn't be surprised if she had accidentally cursed her or something.

"I forgot you were totally stupid when it came to technology. Ku, ku, ku," Kululu remembered. "That still doesn't excuse telling everybody about how they can become the Demon King if they kill me!"

"I... I didn't tell anybody, though!" Rinono insisted. "I wouldn't do that. I kept it a secret all these years."

"Let me guess, it was because you loved me?" Kululu asked in a mocking tone. He was going to debunk Fuyuki's theory once and for all.

"It... It was because I'm not a brother-killer like you. But that doesn't matter. I wanted to apologize for the curse I placed on you. And to get it off you... I think I figured out a way."

Kululu perked up, listening closer.

" _See?_ " Fuyuki asked gleefully. " _She does like you! You can make up with your sister_." Kululu tried not to be optimistic.

"Why do you want to take it off me, after all this time?" he asked.

"Because it's all my fault... My curse probably indirectly made you fall in love with that terrible, terrible Messenger of Death... I made you go through great shame, and I want to free you from being in love with that evil creature," Rinono told him.

Kululu glared. He knew he shouldn't trust Rinono. "Don't you dare say she's evil. Mois's the purest force in the universe. And I love her because I love her, not because of your stupid curse."

" _Hey! Don't be getting violent now!_ " Fuyuki tried to play peacekeeper. He really did want Kululu to make up with his sister.

"But... she's the Messenger of Death!" Rinono squeaked.

" _I think she means Messenger of Derp,_ " Fuyuki recalled. He then quickly shook his head, remembering that wasn't her original title.

"She's my wife. You are going to take off the curse so that I can have nine children with her and so she'll remember me, not so I'll stop loving her. And you're going to do it or else," Kululu ordered.

Rinono grumbled a grunt of agreement.

"So... if it wasn't you who told everyone about how killing me makes you the next Demon King, who was it?" Fuyuki asked, trying to make Kululu trust her again.

"Social media," Rinono answered. "That's what Rei told me."

"Who found out, though? You could have blabbed to one of your friends," Kululu growled. Rinono closed her eyes and gave over the body to Rei.

"Rinono wants me to figure out who made the original post," Rei told him. She took out her phone and looked it up. "It was a demon named Pururu."

"Garuru's wife?" Kululu asked. But Pururu didn't know that!

"She gave your location at the time, too. Would you like it? She was probably eavesdropping on you when you were talking about it." Rei politely handed him the phone.

Kululu looked. It was the same time and place as when he had been talking to Mois about it. He had been so wrapped up in the conversation that he hadn't paid attention to Pururu eavesdropping on him!

He felt so mad.

"Don't suspect me now?" Rinono asked. Kululu finally nodded with a grunt.

She smiled. "See? I didn't want you dead."

"No. You don't want to be a brother-killer. You would have been fine having me dead," Kululu retorted. Rinono thought for a moment.

"No. I wouldn't," she finally decided. "I... I hated you for killing Shupepe, but not enough to want you dead. You were still my little brother."

Kululu just felt a sad feeling in his stomach. All he had wanted was his sister to be with him, to keep him safe and play with him. And when he had needed her most, she vanished.

"Do... Do you think Shupepe would have dealt with the threat of the angels better?" he asked hesitantly. Was that why she felt bad for him? Did she feel pity because Shupepe would be better?

Rinono thought for a moment. "No." She finally shook her head. "He was a pretty inexperienced king, too. Just like you. And looking back on it, he was pretty irresponsible. I loved him for it anyway, but he was pretty lazy. Also, he wouldn't have seduced the Messenger of Death, so we'd be all dead."

"Fair point, fair point," he agreed. So at least he did SOMETHING right.

"We... We should have been there for you, Kululu. Shupepe and I should have taken care of you when Father died. I'm... I'm sorry for leaving you when you were so young. You just didn't understand what a terrible thing you had done." Rinono thought. "You might not have been such a mean king if I had stayed."

"Screw that." Kululu shook his head. "I didn't want you and Shupepe to take care of me. Shupepe never took care of me. He was never there for me. He actually picked on me a lot, if you don't remember. It was _you_ I wanted to take care of me, but you left me for Shupepe." He was still angry at her.

Rinono looked very closely at him. "Do you want me to take the curse off of you now?"

Kululu nodded eagerly.

"It requires me having to accept you again as a brother, and you accepting me as a sister. That will mean that someone you love had come back to you, the person that had cursed you," Rinono told him with a sigh.

"I doubt that..."

"So... I need to know, will you forgive me?" she asked honestly. Kululu was shocked at this. A pin appeared in Rinono's hands as if to sever the curse. "Since the moment you started being targeted, I've realized that I never wanted you hurt or dead, I want to help my little brother. It's been a long time since Shupepe died and I've learned to let go. I want to be your sister again, if you can accept being my brother again. Let me help you."

" _Accept it, Kululu,_ " Fuyuki advised. After all this time, Kululu deserved to have his sister back.

Kululu was speechless. He had always wanted her to care about him again. He just didn't know it would ever happen again.

He nodded, almost shyly, as if he was a kid again. Rinono severed the curse. She opened her arms to hug him.

And Kululu accepted the hug, nuzzling into it like he had first wanted when he had killed Shupepe. The safety of his sister's arms and her comfort.

* * *

 **Thank you for all your kind reviews! Please continue to review and fav, because we love that stuff and just thanks!**

 **(AND I SUPPOSE YOU AREN'T GOING TO TELL ME WHERE THE THIRD JEEP CAME FROM, HUH RAINBOW)**


	30. Trolololol

**Villetta Nu: You're right that demons with small horns are powerful. Taruru should have had larger horns last chapter. Or idk, maybe small was an appropriate size for him, he does have that eye thing. And yeah, Tamama used to be a pretty powerful demon. He was the youngest demon to win a Demon Fight. And that's also why it was all the more humiliating when he kept losing fights, until he met Keroro.**

 **The horn thing is important. You'll see why next chapter.**

 **-Scissors**

 **Rainbow here! I think we mentioned before that the reason demons with smaller horns are more powerful is because it's harder to grip onto during a demon fight, meaning the demons have more energy because they win more often. They don't have more power, but they do have more energy because it's usually easier for them to win.**

* * *

In the week following, Kululu and Fuyuki had a dandy time of patching up relationships and spending time with Rinono, and getting to know Rinono, respectively. Kululu in particular also had a dandy time making Rei feel uncomfortable.

"I don't want to be here. I just want to go home and eat ramen," she cried, tears streaming down her cheeks miserably. "Just my luck!"

Rinono told them all sorts of stories about her travels and about what she'd been doing all these years Kululu and she had distanced each other. Kululu tried to tell a couple stories as well that he took pride in and bragged about, but they mostly involved his horrible war crimes, so Rinono wasn't too happy to hear about them.

"What, you really think that I was that much of a screw-up?" Kululu scoffed.

"It's not that…" Rinono told him, rubbing the back of her neck. "Well… what I mean to say is… you were awfully young! Any demon with that kind of power at that age would have done some pretty bad things."

This wasn't very consoling. So instead they had Fuyuki tell some scary stories. And they were both happy. And somewhat scared, because that fifteen-year-old should not have been able to tell such bone-chilling tales.

There was one story of Fuyuki's, in particular, that was so horrifying that it even kept Kululu wide-eyed for a night.

However, because it was so horrifying, the story cannot be repeated on this site, for the better, I should think.

In this way, the next week passed by Kululu and Fuyuki like a slippery egg.

The rest of the group, however, was still coping with their own little horror—Fuyuki and Kululu's apparent death.

* * *

A week earlier, everyone was still trying to piece together what had happened.

"This can't be real…" Natsumi shivered. "Not Fuyuki. Not my brother!"

She just sobbed into Giroro's arms. He felt sad for her, too. He hadn't known Fuyuki for very long, but he had been a good kid, and he hated to see Natsumi like this.

 _If I had lost Garuru in the same manner…._ A tear fell down his cheek at the thought. He held Natsumi tighter.

"Oh my god… Natsumi, I'm so sorry." Koyuki pat her shoulder and leaned her head against it, in an attempt to offer her own bit of comfort.

Momoka just remained frozen.

In the next few days, nobody thought about the war. They were just too shaken from what had happened with Fuyuki and Kululu. Seeing all the kids in this state, Paul took matters in his own hands and arranged to have a formal funeral for Fuyuki. Many famous people came and mourned this nameless fifteen-year-old blue-haired boy, because Paul told them all that they'd better come or else.

At least the buffet was decent.

What the rest of the world took away from the funeral, however, was a much more powerful message: The Demon King was dead. When Paul had first contacted everyone he knew to come to Fuyuki Hinata's funeral, this was how the news had quickly spread to social media by the time Kululu read it as he and Fuyuki hid out.

Humanity and angelkind were devastated. What did this mean for them? All of their plans had become thwarted. Now that there was no longer the distraction of becoming Demon King to get in the way of people's priorities, the rest of the world began to focus on the war that they all knew would soon be coming, as soon as one of the other sides made the first move.

No one expected that it would be the demons to make their first move. At the news of the death of their Demon King, they began to fight amongst each other. Were they a democracy now? Or still a monarchy? And if so, then who would lead them now? Kululu may have been a screw-up, sure, but at least he still ordered everyone around gave them all a purpose. Anyone could have done it. Now, without any direction whatsoever, their society crumbled.

They needed someone to take the role as leader. However, they weren't sure who it would be.

Natsumi and the others had zero awareness that any of this was still happening out in the world. All they knew was that Fuyuki was dead. And they were all trying desperately to cope.

Momoka was first to come up with an explanation.

"Fuyuki can't possibly be dead," she said. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and smiled cheerily. She hadn't shed a single tear at Fuyuki's funeral. She had just watched in silence, still frozen from the shock. "He's a smart boy. He would have figured out some way to evade the assassins. And Kululu wouldn't have possibly let himself die like _that_. So he must be out somewhere, hiding out."

"R-really? You think so?" Natsumi's arms trembled.

"That doesn't make any sense," Saburo spoke up after thinking a moment. "Trust me, I'd like to believe as much as you that he's alive. And it doesn't make any sense that the Kululu would just allow them both die in such a manner. But it's almost been two weeks and we've seen no sign that he's alive."

Everyone was disturbed. Did this mean, all that time that Momoka said not one word, she was just desperately hoping that Fuyuki was still alive? Couldn't she just accept it already?

But she couldn't. Momoka didn't want to believe that Fuyuki was dead.

"N-no… that can't be…" Mois whimpered, clutching her head. "He has to be alive. He _has_ to be."

Everyone turned to her, because no one had expected that Mois of all people would be sad over Fuyuki's death.

"It's all right." In a touching act of empathy, Natsumi put her arms over the Messenger of Derp. "We're all very sad about Fuyuki. Even you. It's okay to be sa—"

Mois pushed her off. "Fuyuki? FUYUKI?! That was my husband who died!"

Momoka didn't understand. "Wait, Fuyuki was your husband?"

"Kululu!" Mois sobbed. She fell to the ground. "It was Kululu…. He died and I—I didn't even get the chance to say 'I love you' one last time… Instead I just played around with him selfishly."

"Oh." Everyone looked down awkwardly. In all their days of mourning Fuyuki, they had somewhat forgotten about the Demon King. But now that she mentioned it, things did seem a bit more pleasant without him around. And it would have been even MORE pleasant if Fuyuki was still alive.

"I could have told him about my memories…. We could have run away from this place…." She started wailing. "And now it's all over!"

"…Wait, hold up," Keroro said. "What memories?"

Mois didn't answer, because she was too busy bawling her eyes out. But they all started to remember. Mois had told them all frequently how she couldn't remember anything from her past life. And if Kululu and her shared a life in the past, it only made sense that she wouldn't remember him, too. Hence all the excessive flirting, prior to Momoka's false death. And now that she suddenly remembered him… her own husband… what did that mean for all of them?

They weren't sure.

There was nothing to be afraid of, though. All Mois did was bawl for several hours until she cried herself to sleep. And after that, she just stopped crying. She was silent. _Weird_ silent.

"Wow," Tamama sassed. "She must have gotten over it pretty quick."

"I… I guess you must be right," Natsumi realized.

And then, the next day, she was gone.

* * *

Although everyone was disturbed at the Messenger of Derp's disappearance, they decided it was for the better. They had other things to worry about at the moment.

Natsumi visited Momoka often to give her comfort. The girl had confined herself to her room, looking and sorting through old pictures of Fuyuki and her that she had taken.

"I'm so sorry," Natsumi said to her, climbing onto the bed to hug her. "I—I still can't get over it myself."

Momoka wrapped her arms around Natsumi and stuffed her face into her shirt. "I just can't believe it," she cried. "I still can't believe it. It was just so sudden. I didn't even get to say goodbye."

"I'm sure… I'm sure Fuyuki wanted to say the same to you," she assured him. She let out a sigh and laughed a little. "As his older sister… you have _no idea_ how it was like to hear him talk about you all the time!"

"O-oh. Sorry." Momoka dabbed at her eyes.

"It's okay." She stuck out her tongue. "I thought it was pretty sweet. He really loved you. And you know what? When someone loves you as much as he did for you, they'll always stay with you in your heart, even when they're gone." She poked Momoka's sternum, because it would be weird to poke her in the boob. But it got the point across anyway.

Momoka put her hand to her chest. "Yes… you're right," she said. "I can still feel his love for me." She sprawled out on her bed and closed her eyes, listening to the rhythmic beating of her own heart.

Natsumi stroked Momoka's hair and sat up from her bed to leave the room, now that Momoka had calmed down.

It was about three seconds after she closed the door that she crumbled down and started bawling herself.

* * *

When Fuyuki woke up the next morning, Kululu's cheery voice greeted him.

"Guess what day it is?~" he asked. "Ku ku ku! That's right! It's been two weeks! Just a couple more hours of travel and we should arrive at the safe house by noon."

"Can I come too?" asked Rinono.

"No."

Her mouth popped open in shock.

"Ku ku ku. I'm just kidding, of course you can."

She let out her breath in relief.

" _I can't wait to see Momoka and sis again,_ " Fuyuki said. " _I feel so bad about how we lied to them. But I'm still angry how Momoka faked her death, too. And this will also fix the assassin problem and reveal who the traitor in our group was_."

"That was the plan," Kululu said.

He was in a very good mood as they headed back toward the safe house. Now that he had caused an event to hopefully trigger Mois's memory, and now that Rinono had severed his curse, it was more than likely that Mois had her memories back.

He couldn't wait to reunite with her… to be in her arms again… to experience the feel of her lips on his own. It would all be possible now that his cursed curse was gone. They could be together again, just like she had originally planned when she killed herself and all the angels.

Rinono smiled as she watched him. "It's good to see you happy again, Kululu." She pat his shoulder.

She had no idea.

* * *

With that woman out of the picture, Tamama finally had a chance to talk to Keroro about that incident he'd spoken of several weeks ago. He had planned out every single word in his head, every single possible scenario of what could go wrong and what could go right, and how to counteract it.

He approached Keroro while he was downing a large drink.

"Spit out your drink if you want my body again," he ordered.

Keroro spat out his drink. Of course. Who wouldn't have, at such a request?

"Whaaaaat?" Tamama brought his hands to his blushing cheeks. "Oh Mr. Keroro! I had absolutely no idea! Well, if you really feel that way, then I suppose I can't ignore your desires." He inches his fingers to Saburo's neck.

"W-wait!" Keroro pleaded. "Th-th-th-this is my host body…. You don't really want to… want to…"

In his mind, Saburo was currently taking advantage of his mind's abilities, for example: replaying corny, sultry romance tracks that he had once listened to.

"Stoooooooooooooop it!" Keroro begged him. "You're not helping! Worst host ever, hands down!"

Saburo laughed maniacally at him. " _Keroro, I may not be the hero of the world myself, but I know one thing for certain about you: You were definitely the hero of THIS demon's world_."

Keroro just cried and covered his very, _very_ red face.

"I—I don't understand," said Tamama. "Why are you crying? Did you not…. Did you not actually like me?" His pupils shrunk. "I knew it! I knew it all along that you were just using me to blend in with society! You probably did the same thing with several others before me!"

"No! It's not like that!" Keroro insisted. "I just… do you have any idea how humiliating this is for me?"

Tamama took a step back and placed a hand to his chest. "I—I'm an embarrassment?"

" _You're_ an embarrassment? No! I'm the embarrassment! I never even suspected all these years that all those humans I started all acted similarly because they were the same person! A demon! YOU! As if I wasn't bright enough already!" He stuffed his head between his knees, as if this would hide himself more from Tamama. "And as if it wasn't bad enough that I stooped to something as awful as liking my old host's boyfriend! Who was a BOY!"

He turned his body away from Tamama, trying urgently to avoid him. When he peeked through the cracks of his fingers to see how jeering Tamama looked, however, he was greeted by a stranger sight.

Tamama's eyes were shimmering in happiness.

"Y-you really did like me?" he asked. "Like, _like_ liked me? You my-heart-flutters-when-I-see-you liked me? You I-want-to-hang-out-with-you-for-the-whole-day-and-then-fall-asleep-in-your-arms liked me? You I-want-you-to-feed-me-chocolates-and-sometimes-from-your-own-mouth liked me?" His eyes seemed to grow with joy. "YOU LIKED ME? _Me_ , me? Not just my hosts?"

Keroro opened his mouth but said nothing, realizing his awkward mistake in letting that detail slip. "I…. Yes."

He realized he'd said it all too late.

Tamama smiled. And he slapped him.

"What did I do to deserve this?" Keroro wondered.

"YOU WERE STRINGING ME ALONG THIS WHOLE TIME, MR. KERORO!" Tamama called him out. "We could have been smooching it up like Momocchi and Fukki before Fukki died but NO! You had to be all shy and self-piteous!" He grabbed him by the collar and pulled him closer so that they were eye-level. "Well I got news for you, mister!"

Tamama kissed him.

" _Wait, what?_ " asked Saburo. " _Eww, don't kiss in my body!_ "

Keroro was fine with this, because Saburo had been mean to him. Also he did kind of enjoy kissing Tamama.

"Sorry," he said bashfully to Tamama, scratching his neck. "I guess I was just being silly. But we can fix that all now."

"Yes," Tamama grinned. "Yes we can."

They leaned in for another kiss. But a sinister laughter broke them apart.

"Kuu, ku ku ku ku ku…. Am I interrupting something?"

Keroro and Tamama (and Saburo too) all turned in shock to register who stood before them.

* * *

"Um… guys… you'd better come see this," Keroro shouted as he speed-walked through the halls of the safe house with Tamama, Kululu, and Rinono.

Everyone, hearing Keroro's voice, decided to come into the room. It wasn't like they were doing anything besides crying, anyway.

And they all gasped at what they saw.

"Ta-da! Guess who's back, ku ku ku!" Kululu struck a pose.

"F-Fuyuki?" Natsumi said. She ran up to him, feeling his face. Kululu swatted her away. Then Fuyuki took over and grabbed her hand, holding it.

"I'm sorry that we had to pretend we were dead, sis," he apologized. "We'll explain in a sec. But where's Momoka?"

" _Yeah, and where's mah babe?_ " Kululu wondered.

"MOMOCCHI, GET YOUR BUNS DOWN HERE!" Tamama screeched. "FUKKI'S NOT DEAD! HE TROLLED YOU!"

"Don't tell her yet!" Fuyuki asked.

Too late. Momoka didn't bother using the doors—she just plowed through the walls. She literally punched through every single one of them till she reached Fuyuki in the main room and pummeled him with her latest move, Attack of the Hugs and Kisses. Of Death.

"Oh dear…" Paul wiped some sweat from his brow with a handkerchief. "That's going to cost us another small fortune. Oh well, it's not like I'm not used to this sort of thing anymore."

"FUYUKI! WHAT! EXPLAIN!" Momoka demanded at once.

Fuyuki cried happy tears and touched her cheek. "It's so good to see you again, Momoka…."

But then he remembered something. "Wait. Kululu. Who's the person that looks the least excited to see us back?" he asked privately.

Kululu thought about that. " _Ku ku… well, I guess Tamama and Keroro, since we interrupted their little Smooch Fest, but that's only to be expected._ "

Fuyuki looked around the room. Everyone looked either happy to see him, or shocked.

"Okay. Explain." Natsumi put her hands on her hips. "What's going on? And who's that blue-haired girl?"

"…Momoka?"

"No, her!" She pointed at Rei Kinoshita.

"Hi," said Rinono. "I'm Rinono," said Rinono. "I'm Kululu's—"

"So Fuyuki. You were saying?" Giroro interrupted.

"Oh yeah. So anyway," he said, "Kululu decided we needed a way to get rid of assassins. So we pretended to be dead. If the Demon King died on his own, then who could kill him? Hence, that problem was solved," he explained. Everyone nodded as they listened. "And unfortunately, we couldn't tell any of you because we were afraid you might act differently or accidentally tell someone." He gave them an apologetic look, then frowned. "After all, we have a traitor in our group."

"A traitor?" asked Tamama. "That's awful! Who could it be?"

"We don't know for sure yet," said Kululu as he took over. "But we're certain that it had to be someone from the group. They gave an outside demon the pass code to Mois's room."

Tamama's eyes went wide. _Oooooopp—_

Kululu put his hand to his head. "I never expected that the assassins after me would put her in danger, as well. So we had to go through with the plan. For Mois's sake."

"And all of you guys', too," Fuyuki quickly added.

"Speaking of which, where is Mois?" Kululu took control again and looked around.

Everyone fell silent.

"We don't know," Dororo whispered. "After she found out about your death, she… she broke down, saying things about getting her memories back…. Then one morning, she was gone. Not a trace of her left in the manor."

Kululu was silent. Then, very loudly, he spoke out, "WHAT?"

"Um… we're sorry, but there was really nothing we could do," said Natsumi. "Maybe if you hadn't faked your death, she wouldn't have left."

Kululu couldn't swallow the news. He began to laugh cynically, an evil aura surrounding him. Everyone backed away, glad that Fuyuki was back but frightened of what his demon now had in store for them.

"Sh-she might come back!" Koyuki shouted to him.

Kululu didn't seem to believe this. It was just so ironic, her disappearing. This wasn't meant to happen.

Fate really wasn't on his side.

"Fuyuki, you have to take over." Momoka gripped his hand. "We can't have Kululu doing something drastic while he's in this state. Please, Fuyuki…."

" _Kululu, let me have the body_ ," Fuyuki asked.

"No!" he answered him privately. "We've got to leave at once. Mois could be out there. What if she's in trouble? She—She might have been kidnapped." Even though he seemed malicious on the outside, Fuyuki could tell how much he was freaking out from within. "Th-this can't be happening. Not after we've finally found each other!"

"Kululu, it'll be okay," he assured him. "Your sister severed the curse. You two can be together now."

"No," Kululu said. "Don't you get it, Fuyuki? The curse was severed… but now Mois has left again. This is the price. And if that isn't a curse on its own… ku ku ku! Ku ku ku!" He said nothing more than this.

In his state of distraction, Fuyuki took hold of the body again, although he chewed on Kululu's words. Was Kululu still cursed somehow?

Fuyuki wasn't sure. He decided not to think about it for the time being, and instead reveled in the attention that everyone supplied to him. They were all so happy he was alive.

* * *

Everyone was just so relieved that Fuyuki was back. Save for Rinono, they celebrated for hours, and then Momoka went off with Fuyuki on her own, to catch up on all that kissing and cuddling they had missed out on during those two weeks.

But when she shut the door of the room she took him away to, her hair spiked and her pupils shrunk. "What exactly did you think you were doing, Fuyuki?!" she demanded. "Just _dying_ on me all of a sudden like none of us mattered to you?! What kind of a game do you think this is?!" Two seconds later she calmed, her hair smoothing. "F-Fuyuki, if you had confided in me about your plan, I wouldn't have told it to anyone…. I would have kept my lips sealed," she told him cutely.

Fuyuki was looking downward, his eyes cast in shadow. "Of course, Momoka," he said monotonously.

"F-Fuyuki?" Momoka bent down and peered up at him. "Is something the matter? You look so… grim." She delivered a small kiss to his mouth, trying to snap him back to the real world.

Fuyuki nudged her off.

Momoka was stunned. Fuyuki was acting _really_ weird. He hadn't acted this weird around everyone else. What was going on?

"Fuyuki, what—"

"How did you feel when I was gone, Momoka?" he wondered. "Were you devastated? Heartbroken? Sick to your stomach? Feeling like you couldn't move?"

"Y-yes," she said. "It was all of those things. And more. I cried in my room for days, Fuyuki…. The tears would never end." She furrowed her brow, touched. Was Fuyuki worried that she hadn't mourned him enough?

"It's a nasty feeling, isn't it?" he asked a bit venomously.

Momoka was shocked at his tone. "Fuyuki, what do you me—"

"You _LIED_ to me, Momoka!" Fuyuki covered his face with his hand to hide his pained expression. "You could have come back to me the minute that Paul saved you from the cliff! But you couldn't spare me all the pain and torment, because kissing me was more of a priority to you than how _I_ felt!"

Momoka stuttered, completely speechless. Fuyuki had found out? But how? And… he had been trying to give her a taste of her own medicine? That was low, especially for Fuyuki.

As she looked at him, she felt like crying herself. She really _had_ done something awful. But if she hadn't done something, and soon, Fuyuki and she probably would have never gotten together before his time ran out….

"You said…" Fuyuki swallowed. His voice was cracking and he was fighting back tears. "You said that taking something away from someone makes it more desirable. But I'm not a toddler, Momoka. I have feelings just like any other person. I didn't tell you I loved you because you were dead and then game back." He looked her in the eye. "I told you that because that's the way I've felt for many, many years. And I was hating myself for not having the sense to tell you, and it was already too late." He wiped away the forming tears in his eyes with his arm.

"F-Fuyuki…" Momoka pulled him toward her in a hug. "I'm so sorry. I knew that I put you through a lot of pain, but I felt like I had to. I didn't know that you had liked me for so long." She laughed. "If I'd known, we really could have gotten together a whole lot sooner!"

"Sooner? But…" Fuyuki knit his eyebrows. "How… long have _you_ liked me?"

"Fuyuki." She squeezed his hand. "I have been obsessed with you since the moment we first spoke together. Since then it has been my lifelong dream to woo you. I've had extravagant plan after extravagant plan, all ending in expensive losses. But it was all so worth it, because each plan, although we did not get together, we grew a little bit closer." She kissed him on the neck. "When I thought you had died, I _could not go on_."

Fuyuki was shocked. He hadn't expected that much of a confession. But as she kissed his neck and spoke of her love for him, an excited feeling fluttered in his chest, and he felt the urge to kiss her back.

"I… forgive you, Momoka," he said. "Relationships are all about forgiving each other and not giving up. I shouldn't have sought revenge against you. I'm so sorry," he told her. "But please… don't ever die again."

"Don't you ever die on me again, either," she cried, aggressively kissing him.

 _Ku ku ku…_ thought Kululu as he listened to the conversation. _Gotta feel sorry for the Momoka girl. She knows it. She knows that Fuyuki's end is coming closer and closer, much quicker than he thinks._

 _Damn… it's going to be hard breaking these two apart_.

He felt rather guilty, knowing that he was going to have to put a hatchet to everything Fuyuki and he had built over the years.

But the sooner Fuyuki was gone, the sooner he could search for Mois again and return to her. He wouldn't let her slip through his fingers ever again. Not this time.

That was one mistake he was willing to set down Fuyuki's life to prevent.

* * *

Meanwhile, off in the army bases of the country's capital, a council of executives for the human military conspired together on essential war matters. At the moment they were in a heated argument on whom to focus their attention during battle.

"I say it's the angels!" one executive said. "They were a burden to us in the past, those bloodthirsty creatures. Demons are really nothing compared to them."

"I say demons," said another. "You heard what was on social media. Some demons escaped from the angels' imprisonment in Drune and they claim that the angels no longer have any powers. They don't even have wings any longer."

"But the Messenger of Death still could kill us," another added.

"No." A general brought his fist down on the table. "You're all wrong. We're focusing too many of our forces on Drune and the angels. It's the demons we should attack first. The demons! They've been what's holding us back this whole time. Ten thousand years of being eaten, overpowered, outmatched, and exploited by the humans, and you're all willing to let go of all that when this new distraction pops up?" He beat the table again. "NO MORE TALK ABOUT ANGELS! We need to focus on the current issues, people!"

"He's got a point," said another officer. "I'm with him. It's been too long that the demons have taken advantage us under the Nishizawa Contract."

This riled up everyone in the room. Now that people could finally admit to themselves that yes, the demons _were_ taking advantage of them under the contract, it was high time they cash in this subconscious vendetta and finally do something about it.

"Kill the demons it is, then!" everyone cheered. They could worry about the angels after that. "Down with demons! Down with demons! Down with—"

It was right then that the doors to the meeting hall burst open and several humans entered the room.

"What? How did these townspeople manage to get inside?" everyone whispered amongst each other.

"Ah. At last we've found a human government," the adult leading the group spoke.

"Explain what's going on at once," one of the executives for the war meeting demanded.

The adult bowed. "I am Garuru, former advisor to the Demon King and the elected leader for all demonkind in the absence of our previous king."

"Demons!" Various humans in the room and growled and went for their weapons.

"Wait!" Garuru said. "We come bearing good news. We believe you shall be pleased."

The humans waited, listening in curiosity.

"I have met with a representative of your species, a blue-headed fledgling that claimed to be the heir to the ancient Nishizawas that originally formed the contract between our kinds so many years ago," he explained to them. "Together, we devised a new contract upon which both our species can continue to thrive." He passed a scroll to the head of the table, who opened it up and read the contract carefully.

He nodded, evidently pleased. "This contract states that demons will instead inhabit humans for four years, from the age of fourteen to eighteen, but will allow youths to be educated on the Demon Fight prior to their possession. Is this true?"

"Indeed," Garuru verified.

"Exit and let our war council come to a decision," he requested.

Respecting the call, Garuru took the rest of the demons and exited the council hall.

The humans burst out in laughter.

"Phffft… like we'd willingly _let_ the demons possess our children again!"

"Ha ha ha! Who does this demon think he is? He should just give up already and let his kind waste away! Negotiation is useless!"

"Now, wait a second," said the head of the table, folding his hands under his chin. "If we did get the demons on our side again, we could use them to eliminate the angels again."

"I thought… the angels weren't a problem anymore?" somebody asked.

"Although that may be true," said the head, "we cannot know for certain. And it remains well-known that the Messenger of Death still has the power to kill all us." He shivered. "Just look at what she did to Lichte."

Grudgingly, everyone had to admit that he did have a point. They had to swallow their pride and form another alliance, enlisting the help of the demons once more in order to get rid of the temporary angel threat.

"Send for the demon once more," said the head of the table.

Garuru and the demons were allowed back into the room.

"We are ready to agree to this contract."

Garuru smirked. "I think you shall be pleased with your decision." He handed forth the scroll again.

And they signed it off, just like ten thousand years ago.

* * *

It wasn't long before the angels in Drune caught wind of what the humans had in store for the war.

In one of the larger of the empty houses of the former townspeople, they gathered. This war meeting was especially essential now that they had to completely change their plans.

"So the humans have allied with the demons again, you say…" said the angel elder, stroking his beard.

"Yes, sir." The angel spy who had composed the report bowed to them. "I saw it myself."

The angel elder nodded, pondering this. After millennia upon millennia of humans being exploited by the demons, it made little sense that they would agree to ally with them once more. "For what reason could this have happened?"

"They plan on taking us out, sir," said the other angel.

That made enough sense. So then the humans must have found out about how the angels had no more powers in this life. Well… most of the angels.

"Abiding by the original plan should no longer be nearly as difficult as we originally envisioned," said another of the angel leaders. He turned to another very important angel who sat next to him, his daughter. "Isn't that right, Mois?"

"Yes," said Mois with a smile. "You could say, a piece of the cake?"

All the angels were quite pleased. With Mois back on their side, they could take out the demons—they wouldn't even have to take out the humans first to starve them out! But they'd eliminate the humans, while they were at it. They had no qualms about doing it. The humans had their own amount of sin piling up. They could all understand why the humans were sick and tired of being taken advantage of. But to stoop to killing children of their own kind? That was a new level of atrocious.

"Are you prepared for the war, Mois?" asked Fear, who sat beside her. "We're going to have to return to the Ancient Battlefield. That's the only area where you'll be able to destroy an entire species. You're certain that won't… dig up any distracting memories between you and the Demon King?"

She had been referring to how Kululu supposedly played psychological mind games, but being reminded of her dead husband merely caused a tear to slide down Mois's cheek.

She nodded. "I'm prepared. I made a mistake, letting the Demon King capture me again, but I've made my choice to return to my people. I'm prepared to serve them."

Her father nodded pleasantly. "The proper attitude of a possible future leader of the angels. Well… if you pass your judgment… and live."

Mois gulped. It was an interesting way of reminding her of her impending doom. Everything in Drune was a reminder to Mois that, after she aided the angels, she would have to be judged for her war crimes.

But she had made her choice. After Kululu's death, there was no where else for her to go.

There was no where else for her but here. So she would go through with her duty, and kill the demons and humans for the angels.

* * *

Of course, there was a catch.

Mois tried not to giggle to herself as she exited their meeting hall. Truth of the matter was, she didn't plan on _just_ killing the humans and demons.

Several people were a caused her husband's death, and it could have been demons, humans… or possibly even angels to blame for it. And was she going to live in a world where she allowed her husband's killers to live on? No, certainly not.

But she didn't know how to find out who those assassins who'd caused his death were. There was only one thing she could do. Just kill everybody. She'd first take out the humans, then the demons…. And then, when the angels thought all was said and done, Mois would remain on that crucial spot on the Ancient Battlefield with her staff, and suck the souls out of every single angel left alive. Including herself. She wasn't too keen on going on in a world where fate had torn her away from her husband yet again. Perhaps in a next life, she'd even forget her memories again, and spare herself all the pain and heartbreak.

"Oh, Kululu…." She went to the area where they had stored the box with her rings, and clutched her engagement ring in her hand. It was the last memory she had of Kululu, since it had once belonged to him. "I didn't mean for you to die again…. This wasn't supposed to happen!" She broke down crying. "But I'll make them all pay! I'll make everyone pay! Demons, humans, angels…. I'll take them all down. History will repeat itself. But we'll finally be together this time," she told the ring in between sobs.

Unbeknownst to her, a couple of angels had been listening in and were shocked at what they heard.

"Mois is planning to kill us all? Again?" one whispered.

"Dang, no surprise there."

"No, this is good," said another. "I mean, yes it's bad that she's going to kill us, but we can prevent it this time."

"Wh-what do you mean?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Well… there's only one thing we _can_ do. We'll have to tell the elders, and then formulate a plan to work without her.

"After all… it's either we kill her first… or she kills us."

They could save their species this time. They could double-double-cross her.


	31. And the Clock Strikes Twelve

**MY LAST CHAPTER ON THIS STORY. OMG. I'm so happy and excited. I'm free again to have my own schedule of writing! Free, free at last!**

 **Sorry, I'm more used to a 2000 word minimum and then accidentally having 4000 words in my story per chapter. So this I was getting a little burned out at the end, and was very happy that my last chapter was coming up.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

It didn't take long for the group to realize that a war was going on, or had just started. Kululu was still incredibly antsy to where Mois was, and had blackmailed Paul into trying to figure out where she had headed off to.

He had put a lot of forces into figuring it out, but surprisingly enough the answer came to them easily enough.

"Paul, where is our salmon?" Momoka asked, as she looked at their giant banquet. It wasn't nearly as giant as she was accustomed to.

"The shipment for salmon hasn't arrived yet," Paul told the group. "It seems that a war is going on in the south. From what information I have gathered, shippers, developers and actually most humans have headed up there with the demons to wipe out the angels once and for all."

Momoka gasped. They should have waited for her shipment of salmon to come in first.

"There's a giant war going on and you only decided to mention it now? One that hopes to wipe out the angels?" Kululu stood up and glared at Paul.

"Please... Please Demon King, don't show them the pictures..." Paul begged. Kululu whipped out some pictures of Paul using Momoka's most fancy hair shampoo for his mustache.

Paul cried.

"There's a war going on right now?" Natsumi asked, she looked over at the rest of the oblivious souls around her.

"Maybe there's some news on it?" Keroro suggested, turning on a television. There was sure to be a news report on something so big, right?

"And the war continues!" a news reporter said while people died in the background. "Although humanity and demonkind vastly outnumber the angels, the angers still prove to be quite formidable, even without their wings." The camera zoomed in on Mois in the middle of the battlefield, who was to be eliminating thousands of people in just seconds with a twirl of her staff. "The Messenger of Death seems to... well, continue bringing death. We humans will not give up, though! Giving up will mean our doom!"

Kululu watched, gaping. "She went back to the angels?" he said, having clearly seen her. "Why? What does she have planned?"

"We're getting our butts kicked," Natsumi noted.

Kululu turned to her. "See! This is how you use her staff. She's killing people in the thousands. You... You were just doing it one at a time. Ku ku ku... I can't believe I thought you were her for a moment," he glared. He became focused on bragging about Mois's abilities instead of the problem at hand.

"Guys... shouldn't we focus on that a war is going on right now? And how it's likely that one species will probably be killed by the end!" Fuyuki reminded - either by Mois's abilities, or by the demons and humans taking the angels out.

Fuyuki's face became grim as Kululu answered him. "You're right, kid. Without their Demon King, the demons seem to keep making stupid decisions. Which is nice. I don't want to reveal myself, because the plan was for them to think I'm dead, but Mois could get seriously hurt... We need to go to the battlefield and retrieve her."

Natsumi tapped her foot angrily. "More importantly, there's a war going on! I think we should go in and stop it!" She unrolled a map of the battlefield that she had just drawn up. "I've led a war before, even if it was an unsuccessful one. But I want to make things right. I want to stop this one. We need to take action before more people die."

Giroro swooned as Natsumi took command.

"You're all just teenagers." Rinono furrowed her brow. "You may have the Demon King on your side, which is a lot, but what do you plan to do? You'll be fighting a losing battle. A fourth side in three opposing forces!"

"We'll try." It was Saburo who spoke up. "We can't just sit down and give up. I saw Mois when she was crying over Kululu... And if she's rejoined the angels, she might be trying to kill all of us again just like in the Ancient War. She still has that power... and we'll all die if she completes her goal," he said. "Doing nothing would mean our death, just as much as doing something will, so we at least have to try. We might not be able to stop the whole battle, but we might as well retrieve Mois."

"I vote that we stop the whole battle." Momoka had a different take on the matter. "From what the news reports said, we're losing. Maybe... Maybe we can make peace with the angels. They're old and dying, anyway. If I could make a contract with the demons, I can do so with the angels, because friendship... Friendship is important." She glanced at Fuyuki and smiled. He had taught her a lot about the importance of others, and how, even in their relationship, they still had friendship.

Kululu thought for a moment. "It's going to be a bother coming out of hiding, and I know the angels won't make peace, but I agree with Saburo. We should at least retrieve Mois. And I suppose those idiot demons will be killed without me. Ku, ku, ku."

"At least the situation can't get any worse!" Keroro laughed. "Well, besides us all dying right now."

Keroro should have kept his mouth shut. He should have learned when you said stuff like that, things always got worse.

And they did.

* * *

Mois stood on the battlefield, spinning and slicing with her staff that had been returned to her so she could fight. She no longer had her wings, but she was still as much a Messenger of Death as she had previously been.

With poise and grace, she wiped out hundreds of demons and humans. The humans and demons would try to get close to her to get rid of her, but the angels kept her safe, keeping near her to protect her, and maybe even to watch her. She didn't know why. They just told her she needed guards.

"Why are you fighting with your mortal enemy, humans?" Mois's dad screamed across the battlefield.

"Because you'll kill us!" the humans screamed back. "You're the true evil here!"

Mois's father laughed a hearty laugh. "The true evil?" he asked, and laughed again. "We're not the true evil! Originally we weren't even here to kill you! We were here to kill the demons, because they're sinful. Sure, a few of you got caught up in it because you were their food source, and now you're just as sinful as they are, but you weren't our targets. You could have been safe and free of them."

A human leader's eyes widened. "Is this true?" je asked Garuru. They had all heard that they were going to be wiped out by the angels, too.

"Well... the Demon King was the one to negotiate your leaders into fighting..." Garuru cursed himself for admitting this.

"And even now, from what I know of your contract you're being exploited," Mois's father smiled. If the Demon King could make two forces fight who had no reason to fight each other, he could too! "Are you going to let the demons _continue_ taking advantage of you for all eternity?"

The humans all shook their head, seeing the angel's logic.

"Guys... Guys, don't be stupid. This is a manipulation tactic..." Garuru tried to reason with them. He hadn't been leader for long, but he was already screwing up.

The humans smiled and charged at the demons.

The war had turned into a three-way fight now. All three forces were fighting each other.

* * *

"News has come in," Paul told them. "It got worse."

"Goddamnit," Keroro cursed. He knew it would have.

"How bad did it get?" Koyuki asked.

"Humans, demons, and angels are now all fighting each other. There are no allies. The contract has been torn up yet again," Paul explained. "That's twice in one year!"

"Well. I think it's time to load up on the jets and get on over there. We need to stop them all from killing each other," Dororo advised.

Everyone nodded and left their banquet uneaten.

* * *

It would take a few hours to get there, but that was vastly better than a couple months.

In the hours of approaching doom, everybody mostly rubbed their arms awkwardly and thought about how they were all either going to die, or live.

It was the final battle. And they needed to put their all in it.

The only one who seemed to be planning what to do and what actions to take were Giroro and Natsumi, who were accustomed to war and were more battle-ready soldiers. They scanned the map and discussed strategy while everybody glumly curled up by themselves, sometimes talking to their significant other about what they wanted to tell them if it was truly their last day.

Fuyuki held Momoka's hand on the ride, giving her soft kisses on her neck and telling her how much he loved her and if it was their last day together he wanted her to know that he had a happy life with her.

Kululu kept checking the watch on Fuyuki's phone, probably because he was anxious to get to Mois.

" _Fuyuki. Although I appreciate how you want to spend these last hours with your girlfriend, we really better take a clue from Natsumi and talk about our plans._ "

"Save Mois, right?" Fuyuki asked him, projecting his thoughts to only Kululu.

" _Well... about that... That is my first priority, but... how are we going to end this battle? I've been thinking of it, and I might have an idea.._."

"Really?" Fuyuki asked excitedly.

" _You see... In the beginning, the angels were drawn to demons to kill them because I made us possess too many people. Our possessions lead us to sin, so I was thinking, what if we possessed less people?_ "

"But wouldn't you all die? Don't you need to be on this plane to get energy and eat our souls or something?" Fuyuki asked.

" _Ku, rightio. So... I thought about it, all the contracts and most importantly how to solve my_ _problem_..." He confided his plan in Fuyuki, who listened closely. " _I'd need to stop being the Demon King. But I need your help in inputting my plan after we find Mois. I'm not a good talker, you know? People listen to you because you're more friendly. Basically, what I'm saying is I need you to... well, give them a friendship speech. You like friendship, right? You've been doing it to me for, well... a while._ "

It was to only be used in the last moments as a last resort. But he smiled at Kululu's plan. It seemed like a winning scenario where the demons got their freedom and lives, humans got their freedom and safety for youths, and angels no longer had a reason to kill demons and humans for their sin.

And most importantly, if Kululu had come up with something like this, it meant that he was changing. Thinking more about friendship, and even about sacrifice.

And... that made it likely that Fuyuki wouldn't die.

* * *

"I don't know why he have to go into battle for that woman. I don't want to be on the battlefield again to fight against the angels. It was horrible the first time and I don't want to have to do it again," Tamama grumbled, crossing his arms next to Keroro and Saburo.

"I feel ya," Keroro responded. "But we have to. For our lives and the humans."

"Why do the humans lives matter? I mean, besides Momocchi. I just wish we could be happy!" he responded.

"Sorry... I suppose Saburo's just rubbed off on me a little bit. He _really_ wants to help the humans. To be the hero of the world, I suppose. And... it'll be his last day tomorrow, so I'm happy to grant his request."

Saburo grimly watched. Last day, his ass! He could beat Keroro in a fight, even if Keroro was lucky and had lucked out in all the other fights.

He had kept a count of all the days until the two-year mark would expire and had prepared. He had figured out Keroro's weaknesses, and now he was ready.

Midnight would mark the time that he'd be free of Keroro. But first he had to save all of humanity.

* * *

Dororo didn't listen much to Giroro's plans as he barked orders to him. Instead he thought about how he had ended up at a war again after ten thousand years.

No matter what Giroro told him, he wouldn't kill anybody. The assassin in him was gone. He was Dororo now.

"I want to kill the angels. They're... evil." Koyuki, however, had different plans. "I... I want to do what I'm supposed to do and fight with the humans."

Dororo looked at her with sadness. "Will killing anybody bring back the lost souls that the angels killed?"

"Well... no..." Koyuki remembered.

"Killing isn't the answer, Lady Koyuki," He told her.

"But... I need to right my wrongs of worshipping them for so long. Please... you don't have to fight with me, but support my goals," she begged. "Zeroyasha will protect me, don't worry."

Dororo looked at her sadly. He'd always protect her. "Revenge is an empty feeling. But... it's your choice. You need to reach these answers on your own, so... I suppose you'll fight."

Koyuki smiled. "Thanks." Even though Dororo hadn't done anything.

* * *

An angel stood by Mois's side, getting ready for the moment where she'd kill everybody. On the Ancient Battleground, her power was at its highest, most linked to her past life and the energy of the universe. Only here could she kill everybody in one full stroke.

Right now, she had taken a break from her fighting, instead watching the demons and humans duke it out like crying children. They would don their weapons and throw themselves at each other, trying to tear out their throats. The snow was covered in their blood, and a lot of them had forgotten about the angel threat, instead becoming mad at the demons again.

The years of abuse they had suffered at the hands demons was just too much and had piled up over the years. Some of the angels were still getting into the field and fighting, like Fear, who enjoyed battle a lot, but Mois was sitting back and observing.

Whenever one side was winning, she'd turn the tide, killing off a thousand humans or so, so the demons had the advantage, and then when their advantage was too strong, she'd kill a few of them off, and the humans would rejoice.

She just watched coldly. When her playthings were gone, she'd kill the angels, and then this terrible cycle would finally be over. The world would be a true clean slate and her sorrows would be over.

Her angel guard hid a dagger laced in poison in his pocket. His orders were clear. As soon as she looked like she would kill an entire species, he was to stab her in the back before she could double-cross them.

She would die, and she'd finally be gone from their lives. Perhaps next life cycle, she could be better. But right now the angels needed to preserve their own lives first.

He tried not to draw too much attention to his pocket.

* * *

The jet landed, and Fuyuki looked in awe at the bloodshed on the field. It was huge, and to the back of the field seemed to be tents and camps, like this war had been going on for a while.

"How long has this been going on?" Fuyuki asked.

"The news said a week. It's been a week of bloodshed," Paul told them. Fuyuki felt nauseous.

"Time to make history, I suppose," Keroro whistled.

"Everybody know what they're doing?" Giroro asked. Natsumi and he had made an excellent battle plan.

Everybody shook their heads. Nobody had listened to Giroro and Natsumi's lectures.

Giroro sighed. "Just don't get killed," he advised. "I'll be dealing with the demons, and Natsumi will be dealing with the humans."

"They know me...Maybe they'll listen to me to stop this idiocy," Natsumi hoped.

"So... you'll be fighting against the humans, basically? They won't like that," Keroro laughed. Natsumi had been their enemy a while ago, but now she was desperately trying to make things right.

"It... It might be considered traitorous to my own species. And if we lose, that's what I'll be considered, but... I need to make things right." She threw her arms around Giroro to give him a final kiss. "Good luck. I hope you're able to convince your brother to pull back his forces."

"Good luck to you, too," Giroro told her. She had the harder job, after all. She would be talking to strangers. He'd be talking to his brother.

They all dispersed, most of them having no idea of their jobs, but some knowing.

Kululu focused on his most important goal: reaching Mois.

* * *

"Guys! Guys, listen!" Natsumi tried to plead with the humans to stop this foolishness, but they all brushed her off for being just a teenager. Natsumi grumbled. She was seventeen and a half! She was legally an adult in human society! "Stop this! You can't be killing the demons! Focus on the angels!"

They just brushed her off. The humans were winning. If this continued for another few hours, the demons would be wiped out, and not by the angels' hands.

"I'm Natsumi Hinata! You listened to me once! Now you must listen to me again!" she yelled. She was ignored as much as Dororo. She frowned.

Lighting a match, she ignited some explosives and threw them out to get their attention. If they weren't going to listen the normal way, she'd just have to fight her way into respect.

She'd protect the demons. She'd right her wrongs.

They looked up at her.

"You aren't killing the demons on my watch," she growled. Hurdling forward, she armed herself with more explosives and began throwing them.

Her plan hadn't worked, but at least she was fighting. And she was going to fight to her bitter end.

* * *

"Garuru, we need to talk." Giroro approached his brother, who was looking at a map of the battlefield. "You need to stop fighting the humans and start aiming your forces on the angels."

"Giroro. Get everyone to safety. We seem to be losing," Garuru told him. "And I know what you're saying, but we physically can't fight the angels with the humans after us. After we subdue them, we'll focus on the angels. I have some forces already focusing on them."

"Bro. Make peace with the humans. Just man up and apologize for whatever we did! Take the higher road and fight the real enemy! Don't fall for their manipulation!" Giroro yelled.

"I'm not falling for their manipulation," Garuru growled. "This war is bigger than you'd understand. Now, I'm the new person in charge. Either fight with me, or get to safety, Giroro! I will not lose you again."

"No. I'm going to stop you. For Natsumi's people." Giroro pulled one of his guns out. If he had to fight his brother into respecting his words, so be it.

"This war is bigger than Natsumi! Stop making all your decisions based on that girl!" Garuru got his sniper rifle out and faced his brother. He wouldn't kill him, but he would fight him in earnest.

They smiled at each other. "Winner listens to the other?" Giroro asked.

"You know it. But don't get cocky. I'm the one here who's still immortal and has his demon powers," Garuru reminded him.

Giroro gulped as Garuru started shooting at him.

* * *

"Bye, Tamama. Stay safe," Keroro told him. Tamama was shaking. He was just too scared to be on the battlefield with the angels. Too many bad memories. Keroro kissed Tamama on the forehead and left him.

" _What now?_ " Saburo asked. Keroro shrugged. " _Well... I've got an idea. Let's help Natsumi out and talk to the humans. They might listen to me. I used to be the hero of the world... And if they don't listen to me, I have a plan into conning them into it._ "

"Lead the way, then." Keroro told him. And Saburo went to the back of the field with tents, where the leaders were likely placed.

"It's me. Saburo," Saburo declared. "I may not be the hero of the world anymore, but I'd love to help."

"Saburo! You're alive!" some of the world leaders cheered. "And you're willing to help?"

"Yes. I need you to stop fighting the demons and focus on the angels," Saburo told them. Their smiles turned to frowns.

"You don't have the authority to make those requests anymore. After all... you don't have the Demon King inside you. You just have a lesser demon."

" _Who are they calling a lesser demon?_ " Keroro asked, angrily.

Saburo smiled. "I do. I do have a lesser demon. But that lesser demon is extremely powerful and I could use him for our advantage. If I have the willpower to take on the Demon King, then I can use my demon against the other demons."

The world leaders beamed.

"However, I don't want to. I want to stop fighting the demons." Saburo sat down. "But... you can convince me to fight."

"How? Bribery?" they asked.

"Nope. Gambling. We'll make a wager. If I win, I'll fight for you. If you win, you have to call your forces off the demons and make peace. And trust me, Keroro is very useful in battle. Pretty much untouchable. People listen to him! I could probably get more demons to fight for us against their own kind if you won." He smiled.

He knew the world leaders liked to gamble. They grinned greedily.

"And, after Keroro's gone, I'll be your little slave for all of eternity," Saburo threw in. They were greedy pigs. Anything to benefit them they would agree to.

"Deal." They agreed and sat down. "We'll be playing poker. You know how to play, kid?"

"Of course I do," Saburo answered.

" _Saburo? Saburo? What are you planning?_ " Keroro asked, nervously.

"You're super lucky, aren't you? This should be a breeze for you to win," he said with a smile.

" _Well... about that... My luck does have limits... and you've just found the limit.._."

Saburo's face turned pale. "Limit?"

" _I... I can't win money for the life of me. Gambling, betting, anything like that is out. I'm the unluckiest when it comes to that. I lose all the time._ "

Saburo's heart sank. So Keroro's luck turned into a curse of unluckiness in the game he had chosen to play. Saburo looked at his cards.

"Good thing I have a good poker face, then," he told Keroro. "And... that I learned how to cheat in preparation for Kululu." He grinned widely.

He still had his skills, even if Keroro didn't have his.

And although he had never won an honest game of poker, he had won many dishonest ones.

He was ready to play now.

* * *

Koyuki left Dororo to fight against the angels, as one of the few people to pay attention to them. Zeroyasha came with her. He launched himself at someone, chewing on them.

She faced off against the angel called Fear. She gulped. This was her past. She needed to kill her.

Fear was tough, though. She had a giant staff, and it seemed to conjure up lightning.

 _Don't focus on revenge. Focus on protection,_ Koyuki thought as she dodged various attacks. She wanted revenge, sure. But protection made her calmer.

Eventually, she threw a knife at Fear's leg, which caught on her bootleg. Fear fell to the ground, unable to move for a moment.

 _I can incapacitate them! I can make it so they can't move!_ Koyuki realized. She didn't need to kill. She could just stop them.

She would protect humanity and the demons.

* * *

"Koyuki is facing her past... She's very brave," Dororo observed. Fighting against something she'd stood for for so long... It was truly brave.

Tamama shivered by his side. "I... I don't want to fight... No, not this again... I can't be here..."

"Get back in the jet, then," Dororo suggested. He felt sorry for Tamama and wanted to comfort him, but someone afraid on the battlefield would only end in their death.

"I... I don't want to do _nothing_! I want to hurt that woman!" Tamama cried. Dororo looked at him with sadness.

"I won't be hurting anyone. But if you want to help me, I plan to set up nets to trap the demons and incapacitate them nonviolently. That might not trigger you and I'd love your help."

"If that woman steps into a net, I'd be happy," Tamama growled. He wanted to help, though, and so he grabbed the back of Dororo's long tunic and followed him through the battlefield.

Dororo wouldn't let any more demons hurt humans.

* * *

Fuyuki and Momoka stuck together. Fuyuki knew what he had to do. He needed to talk the humans, demons, and angels out of fighting. He could feel his eyes scanning the crowds, though, looking for Mois.

"I got a megaphone." Momoka handed it to Fuyuki as she held his hand.

"HUMANS! DEMONS! ANGELS!" Fuyuki yelled. Nobody listened to him and the Nishizawa heiress. Nobody even saw him, the kid who looked suspiciously like that one guy who had been possessed by the Demon King.

A bullet whizzed toward Momoka and Fuyuki from one of the sides. Kululu's horns sprung out and deflected it. They twisted around Momoka and Fuyuki protectively, like a circular cage, ready to protect them from fire.

" _Try to get their attention_ ," Kululu ordered. " _I'll protect you!_ "

"Thanks," Fuyuki told him as Momoka clung to his side. He continued trying to announce his presence, as Kululu exerted all his Demon King powers to keep this two teenagers safe in the middle of the battlefield.

* * *

"I won," Saburo smiled. Cheating had won him points. The world leaders gasped. "You have to focus on the angels now!"

Half of them glared at him and refused, the other half took their loss with more dignity than he would have.

"Tell the troops to focus on the Messenger of Death and the angels," they ordered shamefully.

About half the humans stopped fighting the demons.

* * *

Giroro was bruised and bloody, but he wouldn't drop to the ground from his fight. "I will never give up. What you're doing is wrong!"

Garuru clutched at Giroro's hair, pulling him up and looking at him from below. "There's no other choice, Giroro. When you're in charge of a species' fate, you'll understand what I'm doing."

"You're not in charge, though! Kululu still is!" Giroro hissed. Garuru dropped him and Giroro kicked at his brother's knees, causing him to fall.

"Kululu? He's dead!" Garuru remarked.

"No he isn't." Giroro pointed to Kululu in the middle of the battlefield. "The Demon King's still king."

Garuru cursed. Nobody needed him in this equation.

"So I'd suggest you follow his orders and stop this stupidity," Giroro added.

* * *

The battle had drawn out long enough. The sky was darkening. Mois wanted to die under the stars.

"Good-bye," she told herself softly, as a giant orb appeared in her hands.

The angel behind her knew his time had come. He took his dagger out of his pocket, ready to attack, and ready to plunge it into her back, right between her shoulder blades where her wings should have been.

* * *

Kululu's cage of electric horns faltered for a second. He had spotted her. And an angel with a dagger was approaching her.

"Momoka. Have your guards protect you for a moment. Keep trying to get noticed by the crowd," Kululu ordered.

Momoka nodded and Kululu dropped his cage. He then ran as fast as he could to her.

"This is for betraying us," the angel with the dagger hissed, raising his weapon.

 _No! I won't have her die again!_ Kululu thought in his head. His horn sharpened and plunged into the angel's chest, right before it could reach Mois's back.

She turned around, ready to hit the angels.

"I know that look," he told her. "Do not even consider wiping out your race again. I'm not losing you again."

Fuyuki watched silently, hoping Momoka was okay as Mois dropped her staff and a stream of tears fell from her eyes.

"K-Kululu...?" she asked. "You're alive?"

"In the flesh. Well, more like in Fuyuki's flesh," he joked. She threw her hands around his neck and kissed him. He could still feel the wetness of her tears.

He put his hands around her back and dipped her, kissing her deeper and deeper even though they were in the middle of the battlefield.

"That's the demon king right there?" Garuru asked his brother, Giroro. Giroro nodded, awkwardly. "F*ck him. He's kissing an angel again in the middle of the battlefield?" he asked. All the demons just became more enraged from this.

Kululu just went back to embracing and kissing his wife, until they finally pulled away from each other, knowing they had other things to do. He touched his forehead gently against hers, hoping not to hurt her eye as he just stared at her.

"You remember?" he asked.

"Yes! Yes, of course I do! I remember everything," she told him, hugging him even more tightly. "Why...? How are you alive? I thought you were dead."

He held her shaking body and explained. "I had to fake my death to get the assassins off my back. Unfortunately, I'm sure everybody knows I'm alive again. Ku, ku, ku. No problem, at least we're together."

"What are we going to do, Kululu?" she asked him, kissing him again, sloppily but sweetly and filled with passion. "We're in the middle of a war again, and it's either the demons or the angels... We might not be able to live together in this world. Should I just kill us all, reset everything? Maybe this world wasn't meant for us, either." She kissed him again, softly.

"Please don't kill everyone. I have a plan. But I need you to buy me some time. It's... It's not the right time yet," he told her.

"Who do you want me to kill?" Mois asked. It was the only way she knew of to buy time.

"Nobody. Just incapacitate some people. Keep them from moving. Chain 'em up so Fuyuki can talk to them," Kululu told her. "And... please... stay safe."

She nodded, and he grudgingly let her back into the field. She was safer among the humans and demons at the moment, so their battle was the part of the battlefield that she went to.

" _Why do you need her to buy time?_ " Fuyuki asked.

"You'll see," Kululu told him quietly. He checked the clock again. It wasn't yet time.

* * *

Nobody was paying attention to Momoka and Fuyuki. Some of the humans and demons were still in nets or only fighting the angels. Some were even in chains, but nobody cared about the Nishizawa heiress and Demon King for once.

"I have an idea," Fuyuki smiled. He knew only one person who would get everybody's attention. He ran through the battlefield, having Kululu protect him until he finally found Keroro and Saburo.

"I need you," Fuyuki told them.

"Sure, what do you need, Fuyuki?" Saburo asked.

"Keroro's charisma. Can he transfer it to me temporarily?"

" _Ku, ku, ku! Good idea!_ " Kululu complimented.

"Sure... I suppose I can, if I hugged you and focused on it," Keroro answered him. "Do you need it?"

"Yeah," Fuyuki told him. Keroro put his arms around Fuyuki and focused. Soon enough, a glowing yellow light had surrounded the two of them, and the charisma was in Fuyuki.

"Thanks," Kululu told him. His horns started twirling around him like helicopter blades. He flew Fuyuki flew up into the sky. "They'll see you better from up here," he explained.

Fuyuki nodded. "HUMANS, DEMONS, AND ANGELS!" he yelled into the megaphone. "Listen to me! I am the host of the Demon King!"

Everybody grumbled, but he had their attention now.

"There's only one way for you all to live peacefully, and most importantly, for you to live. There is only one option that doesn't end in more bloodshed."

"If it's another Nishizawa Contract, we're not listening." The humans plugged their ears.

"It isn't!" Fuyuki told them. "But it is an alliance of peace for a world... a world where we can even live with the angels!"

"And why would we live with you? You're so sinful!" the angels called out.

"Because our sin wouldn't continue. It would be gone. We could all be friends if the demons didn't possess humans anymore, right?"

"So... you're suggesting that we all team up against the demons?" The humans and angels were confused, but smiled.

"NO! I'm saying that a new age is upon us. Look at my friends, Dororo, Giroro and Tamama. They're over there. They are mortal demons. They don't require human energy to live - they have a normal lifespan like the rest of us. If... If all demons could live like that, I think we could all live in peace, don't you? There would be no more need for this war!" he told them, describing Kululu's plan:

All demons give up their immortality, and everybody lives happily. The perfect end to the war.

"Why would we give up our immortality?" Garuru asked, looking up at him. He appreciated the boy's plea, but it was a real loss for the demons.

"Doesn't it hurt to have to constantly depend on human energy? To not be free? And most importantly, to be under Kululu's rule? You could stop all that! You'd be able to live life to the fullest on the human plane! As yourselves! Giroro and Dororo and Tamama are happy as mortal demons... you don't need to be immortal to be happy."

The demons thought for a moment. It was appealing, being free. And it might have been their only chance to live, since the humans and angels would kill them otherwise. That, and being free of Kululu was appealing.

"And... Kululu would give up his immortality, too?" Garuru asked.

"How could he not? I wouldn't allow him to keep it," Fuyuki smiled. "And there's no way for him to get out of this."

Garuru nodded.

"The demons and humans have been able to maintain friendships. There's no reason for us to fight. Look at Momoka and Tamama! They're like the best of friends, even if they're different species. And humans and demons can even fall in love, as long as they communicate healthily. My sister and Giroro have maintained a romance, despite the odds. And even angels..." Fuyuki turned to the angels, who were being left out of the friendship-fest. "Well... one of your people if married to a demon! And their love is real! I've seen it. It's not based on anything wrong or creepy, they actually love each other, and just want to be together. Maybe... Maybe you angels could make friends with demons and humans, too... Please, just accept our friendship."

The angels, humans, and demons were all silent as they thought.

One of the older angels spoke up. "If all the demons give up their immortality, we... We will live with them. We're not really angels anymore, after all. Our wings are gone. Our lifespans are not the same. It would be nice to end this fight."

Humans nodded. They wanted their freedom and happiness from the demons.

The demons were still thinking, until Keroro stepped up to the middle of the battlefield. "I'll... I'll go first if the rest of you are too scared," he offered.

It was so weird to watch as a light surrounded Keroro and Saburo, and they split in two. A black-haired man seemed to crawl out of Saburo's chest, as if he was a siamese twin pulling the rest of his body out.

Keroro looked at the other demons shyly. They gasped as they no longer saw him for the charismatic, lucky thing he was.

Instead, they saw him for what he really was. A real idiot. But real nonetheless, and alive.

"Hi," Keroro waved. They smiled. He wasn't threatening at all, and actually looked to be quite happy.

"I'm free!" Saburo smiled.

Garuru looked onward. "We agree to your terms," he shouted. Like a wave, lights shined around all the demons, Rinono included, as they gave up their immortality for freedom.

Soon enough, they were all laughing and smiling, free of this war.

"Your turn now, Kululu," Fuyuki told him.

"I can't until we get back to ground, or else you'd fall," said Kululu. Fuyuki nodded and let him - slowly, for some reason - helicopter back down to ground.

Suddenly, an alarm rung on Fuyuki's phone.

"Ku! Finally! I thought midnight would never happen!" Kululu laughed, as if he was Cinderella and the strike of midnight was magic.

Fuyuki waited for Kululu to finally be out of him, but Kululu made no movement. "Why are you still immortal, Kululu?"

"Ku, ku, ku. It's because I have one last thing to do, Fuyuki." He gave a wicked grin.

"What?" Fuyuki asked.

"Don't you remember? The clock just struck twelve... It marks the beginning of your sixteenth birthday. It's time for me to claim the body for myself. Ku, ku, ku. There's no reason for me to give up my immortality and strength if there's no one struggling for freedom. I'm still the Demon King with all my supernatural powers."

Everybody watched in horror at what Kululu said.

"You sinister monster! You said you'd give up your immortality!" Garuru yelled.

"Ku. You fell for my trick. With the power of just lowly humans, you'll be no match to kill me. The only one with enough strength to be on par with me is Mois, and she is quite content to let me live. Aren't you, sweetie?" Kululu asked.

Mois nodded.

"So I would suggest you let me continue with the Ancient Contract and claim this body for myself, like I deserve." Kululu grinned and flipped them off.

Everybody felt trolled by Kululu, but weren't prepared to restart the battle just for him. Hopefully he'd just take Fuyuki's soul and be on his merry way.

They still had to honor the terrible Demon King's orders. He had the power now to destroy them all, now that they were all so weak.

* * *

There was a chair in a pentagram set up for Fuyuki. It had cuffs on it so he wouldn't get away. Fuyuki just felt dread build up in his stomach.

So this is what Kululu had meant by "buying time." It was just a scheme to make him the strongest, and now Kululu was going to kill him.

 _He tricked me. He really was a jerk to the end! MY end!_ Fuyuki was realizing. Momoka strapped one of his arms and legs down to the chair. Mois did the other.

"Fuyuki... I'm so sorry..." Momoka was fighting back tears. "You... Please... Win. Beat that liar. Destroy him!" she begged. "Don't leave me."

"I'll try," Fuyuki told her, but he knew he was probably outmatched. Kululu was much stronger than he was.

"Good luck, Kululu," Mois told him, giving him a kiss on the forehead. "Come back soon."

"I will," Kululu told her with a smile.

And soon enough, the two of them closed their eyes and returned to the mind realm.

* * *

"Don't worry. Nobody can kill us both while the Demon Fight's going on," Kululu explained to him. Fuyuki hadn't been worried about that, honestly.

"So... what happens now?" Fuyuki asked.

"The goal is simple. You live if you can grab onto my horns and rip off my head - Don't worry, it'll grow back in the demon realm, and I'll be banished there until I can take a next host. You'll get your body back and your freedom. But I win if I tear your body in two with my horns and eat your heart. Then you'll die, and I'll get your body and soul," Kululu explained.

Fuyuki gulped. He could hear his heart practically thumping in his chest.

Kululu stood before him, waiting for Fuyuki's first move. The boy was a weakling, so he didn't have much faith in him.

Fuyuki tried running in the opposite direction as Kululu, away from him. Maybe if he got to Kululu's back, he could grab onto his horns.

Kululu slowly walked after him. Fuyuki wasn't very fast, and it was easy to catch up to his pace with no exertion on his part.

Fuyuki wheezed and breathed heavily. Kululu was more used to moving around in the mind realm than he was, and he acted like it was reality.

"You got to try doing something, or I'll end this quickly," Kululu told him. Fuyuki finally circled around Kululu and threw himself at Kululu's horns.

His hands scratched desperately at the spiraled horns, but they just hands slipped off of them. They were wound up so tightly that they felt slippery. It was near impossible to grab onto them.

"Ku, ku, ku. I wanted to let you see how slippery they were," Kululu laughed as Fuyuki fell to the ground. "Only one person has ever managed to hold on to them."

"Who?" Fuyuki asked. Maybe he could take some tips.

"Mois. But it was only because she would have fallen if she didn't. I mean, she only had my horns and her back against a wall to hold her up..."

"EW!" Fuyuki didn't want to know about this context. He wiped his hands off on his pant leg and gagged. If being sexual was the only way to hold onto Kululu's horns, maybe he didn't want to do it.

Kululu's horns unwound, like the wirery tentacle they were. "My turn," he said with a grin. They darted toward Fuyuki sharply.

Fuyuki knew if he grabbed onto them, his hands would bleed. He might have to risk it, but it might be a mistake.

So instead he ran. He ran because his life depended on it.

"You're no fun. Ku, ku, ku," Kululu laughed as he followed him.

* * *

Fuyuki ran through the dark, trying to navigate to try to figure out what to do. He was dead.

Kululu had way more experience than him and was extremely powerful. He was going to win with his trickery.

 _I can't believe our friendship really meant nothing to him..._ Fuyuki tried not to cry. He needed to think. To be smart, like Kululu would be.

Fuyuki realized something as he tried to think like Kululu. In the mind realm, he and Kululu had been able to summon anything. Kululu had eaten popcorn many times in his mind, after all.

He stopped running and shut his eyes as he tried to imagine. To summon something. A dinosaur.

A dinosaur roared next to him.

"Get Kululu," Fuyuki ordered his Mind Dino. The dinosaur headed off.

Fuyuki smiled. If he kept this up, he could win! He beginning imagining other things, paranormal creatures, to attack Kululu, things like an invisible maze that was in the shape of an alien that only he knew of.

That would slow him down.

He could win this.

* * *

Kululu's horns entwined themselves around Fuyuki, winding him up like a spider wound up its prey.

"Nice try," Kululu told him, looking annoyed. He was very charred from all the traps Fuyuki had set up for him. "It is your mind, so you have the best view of its territory. It took me quite a while to beat all your stuff. Closest someone's gotten to stopping me yet, but your attempts have ended now, and I have you trapped."

Fuyuki tried to struggle free, but the horns were around him too tightly. Kululu drew Fuyuki's body closer and closer to him.

"Did you know everybody shows their true nature during death? I've known you for two years only... You seem pretty nice, but I wonder how you truly feel. Everybody has some secrets... Some people who act nice are truly selfish." Kululu gave a philosophical drabble. "I wonder if you aren't what I expect, how you'll fight against your inevitable death. Ku, ku, ku."

"Nobody wants to die, that's not selfishness." Fuyuki kept struggling, not understanding what Kululu was saying.

"Some people are surprises in their death, some are predictable. I bet your sister would fight to the bitter end. People like Mois, however, in the face of death are sweet, self-sacrificing. In her moments of death, all she thought about was her love for me and how she wanted to ensure I would live another day. I wonder what you'll be like? Scared? Begging for me to spare you?" he wondered.

"Why do you even need to keep being the Demon King? There's no immortal demons for you to rule!" Fuyuki tried to reason with him.

"Yeah, but I need to keep Mois and me safe from assassins. Now I'm the most powerful being in the world. It should be fine," Kululu told him. He brought his face up to Fuyuki's chest, as if he was about to kiss it, but Fuyuki knew he was just going to eat his heart.

Fuyuki began to cry. He knew his death was coming. He wanted to see Momoka again, but he knew that this was the end. "I'm sorry..."

"Knew you'd start begging," Kululu scoffed.

"...that our friendship had to end this way," he finished.

"Huh?" Kululu asked, pausing for a moment. "In your final moments you're thinking about our friendship?"

"Yeah! I mean, we faced so much together... We had many fights in the beginning, but we made up, eventually making uneasy peace. Then we trounced the Victory Festival and Dororo, the first assassin after us... We faced a war between humans and demons led by my sister, we ran off together to avoid being killed. We camped so often, learned about so much together, and although you never really trusted me with the secret of your wife until she miraculously came back to life, and then we dealt with that too... We dealt with Momoka's death, you let me be together with her, and we even dealt with the loss of Mois's memories. We've beaten so many obstacles as friends, learned so much about the other, yet... This is how it'll end," Fuyuki told him.

Kululu listened. They had had a nice friendship, but he couldn't give up his goals for something silly like that.

"Even... Even if our relationship amounted to only power to you, I'll still think of you as a true friend. It was fun while it lasted. Even if I died at the end." Fuyuki tried to smile between his fearful and pitiful tears.

Kululu felt like Fuyuki's words were a punch. Sure, he cared about Fuyuki's friendship and if he didn't need the power and a body, he'd let Fuyuki go free, but he couldn't just let everything go for him.

Still... they had been truly friends.

He released his horns from Fuyuki and dropped him on the ground. "Ku! I can't kill someone as pathetic as you. Damn you and your friendship speeches, making me feel conflicted."

He sat down on the ground, next to Fuyuki's as he wheezed. He waited to see if Fuyuki was just like him and trying to trick him, but Fuyuki made no movement toward his horns.

"This is a problem," he hissed. "I shouldn't have made friends with my host."

Fuyuki smiled. Kululu rarely admitted they were friends.

"But... I need the body, to be powerful and be with Mois," Kululu told him. "It's either you or her."

"No, it isn't!" Fuyuki told him. "She has a mortal lifespan, remember? You can give up your immortal lifespan and be with her... And you'll still be powerful. You can still invent things, right?"

Kululu nodded, but he was scared. People only listened to him because he was the Demon King. What would they do when he suddenly lost all that power?

"But... I'm the enemy of everybody. They'll try to kill me..." he insisted.

"You're not the enemy of _everyone_ ," said Fuyuki. "Rinono's back with you. Mois loves you. and I'm... I'm your friend. I'll stick by you, and no one will be trying to kill you for the demon kingship any longer," Fuyuki told him.

Kululu thought for a moment again and sighed. "Fine," he agreed and shook Fuyuki's hand. "I should have known this was how it would turn out as soon as I started pitying my host."

Fuyuki smiled as Kululu disappeared to get out of his body.

The two opened their eyes, in separate bodies.

* * *

"You gave up your immortality in the end?" Garuru was shocked at the former Demon King's decision.

Kululu nodded, touching his own face and horns. It felt nice to be him again.

Momoka grabbed onto Fuyuki, crying and sobbing. He was alive.

"I am never having someone inside me again," Fuyuki shuddered. He held onto the poor girl as she cried. Happy to be alive too. He cried with her.

"KULULU!" Mois threw herself in his arms again.

"Sorry, Mois. I chose to be mortal, I suppose. Fuyuki... The little brat is persuasive. Maybe even a trickster. Maybe that's why he's my friend." Kululu grinned a little to himself.

"That's all right." She smiled at him and kissed him on the lips. "It's nice to see you in your real form again. You look much nicer this way."

Kululu smiled. "I love you." He kissed her back.

The demons rejoiced. They were free of Kululu! The Demon King wasn't leading them anymore! They cheered and celebrated.

"Now, Mois... I think I have ten thousand years' worth of love-making to make up with you. Sorry, but I doubt you'll sleep much tonight," Kululu told his wife. He waved at Fuyuki as the demons groaned.

At least Kululu was out of his hair, and in someone else's.

* * *

Everybody celebrated the end of the war. The demons tried to make better friends with the angels and the humans, and Momoka erected a giant castle on the battlefield in mere minutes, thanks to all her workers, in honor of the end of all the war.

Koyuki smiled and pet Zeroyasha. She had almost killed an angel, but had remembered Dororo's words about revenge. In the end, she had only fought to protect humanity, killing no one.

Everybody partied with drinks and confetti from the end of the war. Dororo tried to get people to notice him, but eventually just stayed in the corner with Koyuki.

"I'm mortal just like you now," Garuru told his brother. Giroro nodded. "You were right. It's better to be friends with the humans and... I suppose even the angels. As long as they stay on their own and don't kill us."

"What are the demons going to do now?" Giroro asked.

"We'll live on our own, in our own society. I'm going to be the leader. I've been elected since I was the adviser to the king for so long. You're welcome to join us. We're equal to you, after all," Garuru told him.

"I think I'll stay with Natsumi for now," Giroro told him. Garuru hugged him.

"I'm glad you're happy," he told his brother. The two embraced as equals.

"MOM!" Natsumi hugged her mother, who had been on the battlefield, too. "Fuyuki's free! We're all alive! Don't worry!"

Aki cried in happiness. "I'm so... so happy. Can I talk to Fuyuki? I need to apologize to him."

"Maybe later, I think he's hanging out with Kululu right now," Natsumi told her.

Keroro awkwardly drank some wine with Tamama. It was weird not having everybody pay attention to him.

"I still like you, for the record," Tamama smiled. Keroro smiled back at him, blushing.

"I think I want to use my own talents to live now... I'm going to open a fashion store with fashion for angels, demons, and humans. Want to help?" he asked.

"You mean live together? In sin? Like a dangerous love affair? I'd love too!" Tamama accepted, taking things too far.

Keroro shrugged, fine with him.

Saburo, meanwhile, talked to the humans about how Keroro had been the first demon to give up his immortality in the war, and he had been in front of the entire crowd. It was nice to be the first of something and to be a hero again.

He didn't know what he'd do with his life, but at least he had one now.

And Fuyuki... He had managed to convince Kululu to give up his immortality. Maybe it was for the best that Fuyuki had gotten him instead.

Maybe it had all been fate.

* * *

Fuyuki smiled at Kululu. While they had been fighting, it seemed like everybody had started partying. They partied even more, now that Kululu was mortal.

Fuyuki outstretched his hand. "Want to spend some time together? To celebrate the new friendship between demons and humans?"

Kululu shook his head and looked at Mois. "I have something to do," he told him. "When you're older you'll understand why I couldn't spend time with my best friend, even if I want to."

Fuyuki looked confused, but Kululu lifted Mois into his arms bridal style. "Get a room ready, Paul! I have more pictures of you I can spread if you don't!"

Mois giggled, and kissed Kululu on the bottom of the chin. Paul cried and lead Kululu away to a room, then quickly left.

Fuyuki just shook his head. He was just glad it wasn't his body that he was using. Then he turned to the person he really did want to celebrate the victory with for the day - Momoka.

"You know, if things were reversed, and I was in Kululu's situation and you were in Mois's, I would have probably acted the same," Fuyuki admitted, looking back on it.

"You would have?" Momoka asked.

"I'm glad I'm alive, though. It's nice to be with you. And... now we can finally kiss without knowing he's watching or being interrupted," he told her. Momoka leaned forward and kissed Fuyuki on her castle balcony.

"I love you," she told him.

"I love you, too. And I'm glad... it all worked out for the best." He smiled at her. "We're finally together. No more wars to deal with."

"Just a lot of boring political discussions that I have to attend," Momoka laughed. Fuyuki kissed her and wrapped his arms around her.

They kissed as fireworks went off, celebrating the end of the war.

It was finally the end of the war, and everybody was free - the demons of their tyrannical king, Fuyuki of Kululu in his body, the humans of the demons, and the angels of their Messenger of Derp.

And now Fuyuki and Momoka were free to live the rest of their life in happiness.

* * *

 **Please review and fav! The last chapter will be my sister's and is the epilogue.**

 **(Even though the epilogue was already in this chapter THANKS RAINBOW THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT BY "resolve the chapter _A LITTLE BIT_ ")**

 **(THAT WAS NOT THE FRICKEN EPILOGUE. RUNWITHSCISSORS. It was resolving the chapter. Not an epilogue.)**


	32. Epilogue

**Amyoflove: Rinono is in Rei's body. Rei is the unlucky blue-haired girl that came into Fuyuki's class to try and get her sparkly ball back from him in the anime. Rainbow can show it to you if you want. And Rinono is not a rhino. That is an African mammal. Also if you say anything more about the jeeps I'm not going to eat your cake pops the next time you make them.**

 **–Scissors**

* * *

 **– Two years later –**

"The war only went on for about a week, but everyone was scared that they would be hurt." Saburo turned the page of his journal to show the group of kids that had circled before him a page with painted white snow over the Ancient Battlefield with storm clouds in the distance. "We were all in a lot of trouble, and nobody knew what to do to stop all the fighting. That was, until Fuyuki Hinata, the Hero of the World and the Demon King's host, rose up into the sky and gave a speech of friendship to all three sides!" He turned another page, which showed a painting of Fuyuki in the air.

The kids "oohed."

"In a magnificent flash of light, all the demons gave up their immortality… all but one." He turned another page.

The kids yelped and covered their eyes.

"The Demon King had double-crossed Fuyuki. He had planned to kill him all along. But Fuyuki won over Kululu with another speech of friendship, and the Demon King soon became mortal, as well." He turned to the last page, which showed Fuyuki and Kululu holding hands. "And then the Nishizawa heiress erected a giant castle on the battlefield and got married to Fuyuki."

All the kids giggled.

"Saburo!" Dororo put down his clipboard. "That last part didn't happen."

"Yes, but we all know that it will," he said playfully, putting down the journal. "Well, that's how the war ended, kids!" The kids clapped.

"Everyone, say thank-you to Mr. Hojo for his presentation," Dororo instructed his students. All the kids took turns bowing and thanking their guest speaker.

Saburo laughed. "Dororo, your class is so cute," he told him, ruffling a kid's hair.

Dororo chuckled and walked up to him. "Well, you're free to visit any time you like," he said. "The kids love hearing all of the stories you've so artfully collected in your journals."

Saburo beamed. He was keeping tons of journals, a different one for each story. And the stories ranged from various romances he had learned of along the way, to the mishaps of Fuyuki and Kululu in their quest to research monsters, to tales from two years ago—like how his and Fuyuki's demons got switched, the destruction of the Victory Festival, Natsumi's conquest to rid the demons using Mois's staff, the fake angels turning up in the human-demon war, the real angels turning up a bit later, his and Keroro's encounter with the Messenger of Derp in the forest, how they had to hide out when people found out about how you could take over demon kingship by killing Kululu, and Momoka's fake death. He had a Lichte story, but he never told it to the kids because… well… they were kids. They wouldn't want to hear a story about a town full of dead kids.

He even started traveling as of late, gathering new stories in all the towns he visited.

Someday Saburo planned to publish his stories, so everyone could remember this history in the years to come. And also appreciate his fabulous illustrations. He may not have been the hero of the world anymore, but he was sure to be history's hero.

A kid tugged at Saburo's shirt. "Mr. Hojo, you're gonna come back soon, right?" she asked, her eyes twinkling hopefully.

Saburo smiled down at her. "Of course I will."

He gathered up his bags and took his leave, waving to Dororo on the way out as thanks for letting him drop by.

"Okay, everyone," said Dororo. "It's time to get back to work."

The kids groaned.

"Don't worry! This next task is a fun one. Take out a pen and a piece of paper and write down one thing that you leaned from Mr. Hojo's story that you did not know already."

Dororo walked around the room to see what they were writing about. Many kids wrote about how they didn't know that demon horns could be used like helicopter blades before today.

Dororo was so pleased with his children. He loved his job as a teacher. It was so much less stressful than being an assassin. He didn't know why he couldn't have just skipped being an assassin and just went straight to teaching.

A little further into the morning, Dororo was interrupted in the middle of his lesson about analyzing traditional poetry when Koyuki popped in from the window.

"Dororo!" she called, handing forth a box and smiling as she hung upside-down from an outside tree branch. "You forgot your lunch at home."

All the kids giggled at Mr. Dororo's silliness, and also the fact that someone was leaning into the room upside-down.

"Oh… thanks, Koyuki." Dororo blushed at his forgetfulness. She handed him the lunch box and he felt a tremendous weight get transferred into his hands. She must have tried to make rice balls for him again. It was okay; he didn't particularly mind. He liked Koyuki's eccentric cooking style. He usually ended up slathering everything in natto, anyway.

"No problem!" Koyuki leaned forward and pulled down his mask a little to give him a kiss. "I'll be in town with Natsumi today, so is there anything else you need?"

Dororo kissed her back. "Just that," he told her sweetly. All the kids oohed at him.

"Mr. Dororo has a crush!" they whispered to each other, giggling.

Koyuki giggled, as well, and leaped back out the window.

Instead of going back home, to their wooden hut that they had made together out in the forest, she went to the edge of town, where she saw Natsumi approaching from the depths of the forest with Giroro.

"Natsumi!" She ran up to her merrily. "How'd it go today?"

"Oh. Pretty good." Natsumi wiped a bit of sweat off her brow and set her weapon (a long pole she liked to call her "swingin' stick") on the ground. "We had a decent number of aggressive monsters trying to get into town today. But they won't be a problem anymore, thanks to Giroro and me." She shared a fist-bump with him.

Giroro smiled at her, so proud of Natsumi. She had come so far in just two short years, transitioning completely from killing demons to killing monsters, a better way of protecting people now that all the fences surrounding the towns were taken down so people could travel freely with larger vehicles.

Not to mention, their relationship had come pretty far, as well. They had this communication thing down to a T.

"You ready to go into town, Natsumi?" Koyuki asked, excited for their outing. "We've got a lot to do before your big day."

"I know, I know," Natsumi said with a laugh. She and Giroro exchanged a knowing look. Their wedding was in just a few days.

Giroro couldn't have been happier. They had been engaged now for two years. He decided to propose to her a few months after the war, when things had calmed down. Natsumi responded with, "Sure, but in, like, two years." That had been good enough for him. Now it had been, like, two years and they were both ready to make some wedding vows and go honeymooning. He was ready to become eternally bonded with his warrior princess.

"Well, I'll be seeing you, Giroro," Natsumi told him. She chuckled as she saw his expression. "Oh, stop making a fuss. You'll have me all to yourself in just a short while."

He grinned and gave her a very passionate kiss before seeing her off, then proceeded homeward to make preparations for the big event. Of course, he had to take a bike because jeeps had been outlawed across the country.

"See ya, red!" Natsumi called, waving to him as she walked off with Koyuki.

"Okay, so at the mall… I'm _not_ supposed to drive a spear into the hearts of those people who stand at the edge of stores and offer me free samples of perfume and tissues?" Koyuki asked.

"Yes," she confirmed. "They're just normal people…. Don't worry, Koyuki. You'll get the hang of it soon."

It was still taking a while for Koyuki to get used to regular human society, but the girl was trying her hardest to become what she deemed as "normal." _Ah, well, it's a regular desire to have,_ Natsumi figured. And the two of them enjoyed spending time together. They had become really close in the past couple of years.

They spent the rest of the day together at the mall, going to the spa and eating fancy parfaits and buying things and doing other low-stress activities that one typically does after fighting off hordes of monsters.

"Wow! Being normal is so fun!" Koyuki exclaimed.

"Yeah," Natsumi agreed. "I just hope that my brother remembers he's going to have to get ready for my wedding soon… It's just like him to be absentminded."

"Oh, Natsumi," said Koyuki. "Don't you worry. I'm sure he's doing fine."

* * *

Fuyuki wasn't really focusing on his sister's wedding that was coming up in a few days. He was currently hanging out with Momoka, his own fiancée, in the Nishizawa manor with her. They were in a waiting room together, watching over a little winged, three-eyed baby as she played with some toys.

"You know, mistress," Paul said to her, "we could have the maids watch after her for you if you have things that you and Mr. Hinata must attend to…."

"No!" Momoka snapped. "Fuyuki and I will do this. We can! We're fully capable future parents!" she insisted.

Paul did not show his exasperation. He merely nodded and walked off to let Fuyuki and her to their own devices. He knew why Momoka was resolute on babysitting the kid herself—she could watch Fuyuki with the tot in his lap and fantasize about how someday, that would be her own baby on his knee. She couldn't wait for that day to come.

"You sure you don't have anything else to do, Momoka?" asked Fuyuki. He stroked her hand. "You've finally got free time, so… we could go somewhere when Kululu comes back."

"Perhaps," she said. She leaned forward and gave Fuyuki a kiss on his jaw. "It'll be nice to relax a little with my most favorite person. All these business meetings and economical debates have _really_ been doing a number on me." She rubbed her shoulder. Fuyuki picked up the cue and walked behind her so he could start rubbing her shoulders. Momoka let out a small moan of pleasure.

The angel baby put down her toys to reach toward Fuyuki and let out a jealous trill, now that he wasn't paying attention to her.

"Come to me," Momoka told the little one-year-old. She stretched out her arms and the baby crawled pitifully toward her. Momoka picked her up and set her in her lap with a grin. "Aren't babies sweet, Fuyuki?"

"Yeah," he agreed as he rubbed her shoulders. He totally missed the hint.

He had to stop when the doors to the outside opened and Keroro stepped into the waiting room, along with Tamama. "Ahh, here's where you two are," he said. "I thought you would be in the main hall, but Paul told me that you would be here."

"Hey, Momocchi!" Tamama greeted. He eyed the angel baby with much less delight.

"Anyway, here's the new design plans for this year's Nishizawa arsenal," said Keroro. He handed a few folders to Momoka. She placed the baby back on the ground with her toys so she could take a look through the folders. Since the Nishizawa Corps was the leading corporation in the economy, and since Momoka was now well-known to everyone as one of the heroes of the world, they had struck a government deal to provide armory and machinery to the military so the country could protect people against the monsters that were now roaming wild. Keroro, of course, had excitedly jumped in when he heard that they would need a designer.

Momoka flipped through the pages and pages of whimsical fighter planes and mobile suits. "Hmm… interesting concepts," she commented. "What do you think of them, honey?"

"I like 'em," said Fuyuki.

She tapped the folders back into a stack. "I'll have to take them to our professionals in the department." She gave Keroro a wink, assuring him that she might be able to pull a few strings in his favor.

Keroro's eyes shimmered. "What? Really?" he asked. "That's great! They were all inspired by my favorite cartoons, by the way."

Momoka and Fuyuki laughed. It had been… noticeable.

"Well, we'd better get going now," said Keroro.

"That's too bad," Fuyuki said. "Next time you should definitely stay a little longer."

"Yeah! Momocchi, maybe you and I can hang out sometime after Natchi's wedding!" Tamama said cheerily.

"Natsumi's wedding?" Fuyuki paled. "Shoot, I completely forgot that my sister's getting married."

Keroro slapped his knee in laughter. Fuyuki was sooo forgetful! He was sure glad that _he_ wasn't that forgetful.

"Um… Keroro I think you accidentally left the stove on before we left home," Tamama recalled.

Keroro promptly stopped laughing. "Yeah, we had better go," he said. He grabbed Tamama by the wrist and ran off with him. He wasn't about to let that mansion burn to the ground!

He hadn't spent a coin of it himself, of course. Garuru had paid for it in its entirety as reparations for all the wrongdoings that Kululu had caused Tamama during the Ancient War. Tamama loved the mansion to death. He got all the sweets he could dream of, and all the Keroro, to boot. Of which Keroro booty was indeed included, and in plentiful amounts.

And the best part was, there was no Kululu to bother him.

Just as the two of them ran off, the doors to the conference hall right beside the waiting room opened up and Kululu came out, rubbing his neck tiredly.

"Hey! That was quick," Fuyuki commented. "How did things go?"

"Ku ku ku, well, I guess it's still gonna have to take some getting used to talking about my latest inventions to a crowd of scientists and businessmen who hate me with the depths of their souls," Kululu answered.

Fuyuki didn't respond.

"Ah, well." He shrugged. "Can't expect them to stop hating me after just two years."

"Oh… that's real—" Fuyuki tried to say, but he was interrupted as the tiny angel baby thrust her chubby little infant arms in the air and squealed, "Daddy!"

It was one of the only words she knew.

"Hey! How's my little girl?" The tiredness instantly melted off of Kululu as he lifted her from off the ground amongst all her toys. She looped her arms around his neck and leaned her head on his chest.

"That's really too bad that so many people still hate you," Fuyuki finished.

Kululu waved his hand dismissively. "Ku ku ku… nah, it's fine. The world is kind of justified in their grudge against me, I suppose. After the war scandal… and thousands of years of jerking everyone around… and not telling anyone that the angels would someday return… and betraying you and the demons on the battlefield," he listed, to name a few. Fuyuki was reminded yet again of just _why_ people were still having a hard time getting over this. "And, I mean, it would have bothered me before, but… ku ku ku, their loss if they don't want me to bring the world to a new age of technology—probably the last one I'll get to influence before I pass on in this blasted mortal body." His baby stuck her fingers up to his lips as he blabbed on. He gently took her hand out of her mouth. "Plus," he said, smiling at her, "I have everything that I want now. Mois is with me again. I still have my ability to intimidate people and create inventions. And we have Hope."

Fuyuki nodded. "Yes, hope is very important to have."

"Ain't nothing truer than that," Kululu agreed. He looked over at the toy in his daughter's hand. "Speaking of which, what did you make today, Hope?"

 _Oops,_ thought Fuyuki. _I thought he was talking about a different kind of hope._

She tried to hand him her toy, but accidentally ended up whacking him in the face with it. "Ow," he chuckled. He put his hand out forgivingly, so she could just hand it to him instead. "Wow! A subatomic machine cannon! Ku ku ku. Daddy's so proud." He wiped a tear from his eye and told Fuyuki and Momoka, "They grow up so fast. Soon she'll learn to start speaking Gellish and wean and grow her horns."

Fuyuki and Momoka laughed nervously. They _hoped_ that she hadn't been putting together a super weapon when she played in the room, and that it was just a toy. Then again, with Kululu's kid, you couldn't be sure.

Although it was true that Momoka and Fuyuki sometimes liked pretending that Hope was their baby when they took care of her, at the same time, she was still a very frightening child. As the only angel in existence who now had wings, who probably inherited her mother's destructive abilities, and who was also a super genius, it was scary to imagine the power she might hold in the future, not to mention how much of a target for assassins she'd be.

A scary child indeed. Momoka and Fuyuki shared this thought as they watched Hope innocently play with her daddy's hair.

At the very least, everyone could hope—no pun intended, of course—that she wouldn't end up a screw-up like her father. At least Mois was a leader of the angels now. Perhaps Hope would look to her as a role model instead. It was still bad, but a whole lot better than Kululu.

* * *

Finally the big day arrived, and everyone showed up for Natsumi and Giroro's wedding ceremony—Fuyuki, Momoka, Paul, Tamama, Keroro, Kululu, Mois, Hope, Garuru, Pururu, Saburo, Dororo, Koyuki, Aki, Rinono, Zeroyasha, and all of Natsumi's other friends. Several humans and demons came as well, and even a couple more angels.

During the ceremony, no one even listened at what the priest said. "We have all gathered here today to honor, not just the momentous occasion of a demon and human marrying that truly marks the beginning of a permanent friendship between our two kinds, but also the union of two very important people to all of us here… a son, brother, friend, leader… a daughter, sister, friend, leader…" he spoke.

But no one was paying attention. Instead they watched Natsumi and Giroro gaze at each other, dressed in their fancy robes and garb. Koyuki sniffled for her friend, and Dororo and Keroro for theirs. Fuyuki was having mixed feelings at the thought of his sister taking yet another step in growing up… but it was pretty cool that she was marrying a demon. Beside him, Momoka clutched his hand and shed a few tears herself. At his other side was his mom, who was bawling her head off quite loudly. Garuru was bawling _his_ head off even louder.

Fuyuki turned to Kululu, who was slumped into the chair beside Aki. It was a wonder that he could sleep through all this bawling. Hope was lay asleep on his chest as well, sucking her thumb serenely and getting drool all over his shirt. Someone, either Kululu or Mois, had put what little white hair she had in two tiny pigtails. Her tiny wings were draped over herself like a little blanket. Most likely, they had both tired themselves out playing all day; also the wedding was really boring.

Mois, on the other hand, was another wedding-sobber: She frequently blew her nose and wiped at her tears as Kululu snoozed beside her, and she didn't even notice, because she thought wedding were the most romantic shit ever.

At the walkways, Saburo stooped and took photographs of the meaningful event. This was going into the journal, for sure! A demon and a human had never gotten married before, at least not to anyone's knowledge, and not for anything besides trying to blend in to society, but humans weren't supposed to know of those instances.

After the wedding, he'd start working on the next journal at once, and tell the story to as many human kids as possible. He needed to make sure that human kids grew up knowing that demons weren't as bad as everyone said they were.

Admittedly, earlier that day he had run into a bit of a conflict.

He was at a store, purchasing more art supplies for his travels, as well as a fancy frame for his wedding gift for Giroro and Natsumi. The store clerk had been friendly enough to ask what all the art supplies were for.

"Oh, this?" he asked. "I'm going to a friend's wedding, and I want to give them a painting of the occasion as their wedding gift. A photograph can only do so much, you know," he explained. "It's going to be a really amazing event. This is going to be the first known wedding in history between a demon and a human, after all."

The store clerk made a face. "A demon and a human? How repulsive. The demons exploited us since the beginning of history. And now a human is marrying one? How low we've sunken!"

Saburo frowned. This was exactly the reason why demons still weren't able to conform to human society—everyone still had a stigma against them. It was kind of understandable. But what was in the past was in the past.

"Don't you think people should change that attitude, though?" he asked. "Demons are extremely knowledgeable. They could offer a lot for human society."

"Nah," the store clerk decided. "We're fine on our own, and they're fine on their own. They've got their new leader, Garuru, and he's doing a fine job of not being Kululu. They've got their own culture that they'll pass down, their own ways, to their own children. They really shouldn't be bringing that into our society after they've killed so many of our youths."

Saburo sighed. It was hopeless talking to this store clerk.

But despite how stubborn adults were, he knew he could still touch the hearts of children, and make them think differently from their parents.

Society still had a long way to go.

* * *

"Oh, Natsumi, my baby girl!" During the wedding reception, Aki jumped up to her daughter and flung her arms around her. "I can't believe you're leaving me." She started bawling again.

"I'm not leaving, Mom! I'm just going to be away for awhile," Natsumi told her. "Giroro and I will visit you often. Don't worry." She gave her mom a kiss.

"You treat her right, okay, Giroro?" Aki said.

He saluted her. "Of course, Mrs. Hinata," he promised.

Natsumi snorted and batted him in the arm playfully.

"Congratulations, Natsumi," Fuyuki told his sister. "It's about time you and Giroro made things permanent!"

"Yeah, it does feel nice to know it's finally happening," she agreed.

Aki looped her arms around her two kids and pulled them closely to her. "This might be the last time we'll all be together for a while," she said, fighting back tears. "I need to savor this moment."

"Mom, don't worry," Fuyuki said with a laugh. Ever since Kululu left his body, she had been especially clingy to him, probably due to all the guilt she still harbored for turning her back on her son in his time of need and leaving him for dead. He kept telling her that he forgave her, but Aki still couldn't forgive herself. It had been her duty as a mom to take care of her kids and she felt she had failed at it.

Everyone took their turn going up to Natsumi, or Giroro, or both, and giving their congratulations, then went to get cake and drink, or dance to the music that played.

Eventually Kululu stirred as sat up in his chair, clutching Hope so that she wouldn't slide off his chest. She couldn't fly yet and he didn't want to force her to learn prematurely. "Whaddid I miss?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Besides everything?" Fuyuki asked him.

"Oh. Shoot," he cursed.

Mois bounded up to him excitedly, tears still flowing from her eyes. "Kululu, Kululu, Kululu!" she said. "The wedding ceremony was soooooo beautiful! Do you think _we_ can have another wedding soon? Ohh, can we?" she begged him, gripping his hand.

"What?" he said. "We already had one!"

"Yes, but that was ten thousand years ago, and I was dead for a while since then," she whined. "And that was _eloping_. It wasn't a public ceremony, with friends and family."

Kululu was about to open his mouth to say, "We don't have any friends and family who'd willingly come," but then decided against it. "Still no," he finally said.

" _Pleeeaaase_?" She conjured up her most persuasive eyes. All three of them sparkled at him pleadingly, sweetly, innocently.

There was no way Kululu would have been able to deny her request when she was looking at him like _that_. "Fine," he sighed.

"Yippee!" She hugged him tightly, being careful not to squish the sleeping babe between them.

Of course, this dangerous power also came with a downside. It was genetic.

Hope stirred in his arm and awoke with a start. She looked around at all the unfamiliar sights, and then her eyes settled on a particularly entrancing wedding present of Giroro and Natsumi's that they had left displayed on a table.

"Dada." She tugged on Kululu's vest and pointed with her tiny finger in its direction. " _Want_."

"Uhhh…" Kululu sweated as she looked up at him. Her three innocent infant eyes seemed to ask the question, "Why is it bad to take things that belong to other people if _I_ do it?" He couldn't refuse that look. He couldn't refuse the desires of his sweet baby girl. Not when she could melt a person with that face.

Mois giggled, seeing him struggling. "Here. Hand her to me."

Kululu quickly handed off the dangerous weapon and let out his breath. Now he could breathe again.

"Aw, how cute she is," Dororo commented as he walked past. He waved. "Hi, Hope."

 _Good. She'll use the same guilt-tripping tactic on him,_ thought Kululu.

But she didn't. Instead she turned away from Dororo and timidly stuffed her face into her mama's shirt, hiding away from him.

"Aw. Okay." Dororo walked off, sad that he had been ignored once again. He was probably going to Zeroyasha to go get some puppy love.

Mois laughed. "The sweetie's probably hungry after her long nap. I'd better go nurse her."

"All right," said Kululu. He yawned."I'm going out to get some fresh air."

He kissed her and then went outside the building to where a garden was. At the moment, it was almost deserted, since everyone else was inside congratulating the young newlyweds. The sky was already dark and twinkling with stars.

Kululu spotted Fuyuki pacing around and stood beside him to pace along with him. Even though the boy was growing, Kululu was still a good half a foot taller than him.

"Pretty nice out here, huh?" Fuyuki asked, breathing in the cool, midsummer air.

"Ku ku. Yeah, it's decent," said Kululu.

"Yeah." He nodded. "I—I just can't believe it. Natsumi's getting married…"

"Ku, yeah, it's kind of—"

"…to a demon!" Fuyuki's eyes sparkled. "How cool is that? That I've been able to witness this amazing moment of history?!"

Kululu paused a moment. Then he smirked and told him, "I'm a bit more privileged. After all, _I'm_ an amazing piece of history."

"Hah." Fuyuki started walking along the path again, and Kululu followed. "I feel kind of bad for all the people who didn't come. They still hate demons so much…."

"Ku. Well, you can't expect people to change in just two years," he said. "Trust me. I've been around for a _really_ long time. It takes 'em longer than that to come around."

Some people were a lot quicker to change their minds. Mois, for example. He had lucked out she changed her mind about having kids, but it had still taken quite a bit of coaxing on his part, as well as his constant assurance and comfort that she wasn't going to birth another half-dead monster. Once she saw her winged, three-eyed baby for the first time, of course, most of her fears had instantly melted away and she fell in love with the babe.

Kululu didn't think humans could be the same way. They took a lot longer to accept things. He didn't really care. If he wanted to go into a human town, he just barged right in and didn't give a single damn of how much they hated him.

Fuyuki kicked at a rock as he walked along. "You think… now that you're helping me research monsters and keep people safe… people will stop hating you as much?"

"Ku ku ku. I dunno. I doubt it'll ever happen," he chuckled.

Secretly, Kululu was a little bit proud that Fuyuki had followed his dream to become an official researcher of monsters and the paranormal. He was doing a lot for the world, publishing his research so humans would have a smaller possibility of dying when they went out of town. Kululu didn't really care about what the rest of the humans were doing. But he was glad that Fuyuki had found happiness.

"You know," Fuyuki said after a bit, "I'm glad that everything happened the way it did."

"You are?" Kululu wasn't so sure that he was. He would have liked to spare himself ten thousand years of loneliness if he could have. Maybe even make up with Rinono earlier, if he could do things over….

"Yeah. I am," said Fuyuki. "There were lots of hardships along the way, but I think all the demons becoming mortal is what's best for the world. I even think Momoka pretending to be dead had its own sort of place in the grand scheme of things…. You know?"

 _Uhh not really_. "Yeah. I see what you mean."

"It was like fate or something. Just the way things were meant to be." Fuyuki looked up at the sky sentimentally. "And even though the angels came back, they're kind of mortal too, in their own way."

"Except for Hope," Kululu said egotistically, like the proud daddy he was.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Except for Hope."

But this was what was better for everybody. Perhaps was had _really_ led to the Ancient War ten thousand years ago was the power imbalance amongst their three kinds. Now things were different. Now everyone was on the same level with each other, just like the universe had originally envisioned before it took a coffee break and left evolution to its own devices.

As Fuyuki gazed up at the stars, a picture popped out at him, due to what was on his mind. In the way that certain stars connected, he could almost piece together an image of an angel with shattered wings.

Just the way things were meant to be.

* * *

 **…Aaand that's a wrap, folks! Thank you to everyone who stuck with us through to the end! As well as tolerating our plot holes and plot points that we dropped and didn't go anywhere with…. And all the lovely surprises along the way. Like those jeeps. Fucking jeeps.**

 **We're so happy that this is finally done! Don't forget to fav if you haven't already (and also liked the story). And just a personal request, please tell us in the review what you liked best about the story and what you liked least. Knowing this will help us a lot.**

 **And then one last thing: I'm going to be coming out with a short, one-chapter prequel to the story that takes place about 1,000 years before this story. It's about Garuru and Pururu, and also features what everyone else was doing 1,000 years ago, so keep your eyes peeled for that!**

 **Anything to add, Rainbow?**

 **–Scissors**

 **(Spoilers, the jeeps were used even though they were outlaws. They were the outlaws of the world. Umm...Nothing more really to add! Except that the one part we forgot to add was that angels still reincarnate, so basically, Kululu is screwed with his now mortal lifespan.**

 **-Rainbow)**


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